Father Charles Sikorsky warns AI generates mental health crisis

Father Charles Sikorsky, president of Divine Mercy University, warned that the increasing presence of artificial intelligence in daily life is creating a mental health crisis for both adults and children. Speaking to an audience at the St. John Paul II National Shrine in Washington on Sept. 5, Sikorsky, a member of the Legionaries of Christ, addressed the anthropological concerns raised in Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas.

The encyclical, titled On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, explores questions regarding human identity and how an understanding of the person should guide social and technological development. Sikorsky noted that these questions are vital to the field of mental health and the practice of psychology.

His remarks come ahead of Mental Health Sunday on Oct. 11, which is part of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Catholic Mental Health Campaign. The bishops have encouraged Americans to address what they describe as an ongoing mental health crisis throughout the United States.