Canon Law and Machine Learning: The Case of the Robot SanTO

Abstract

The article analyses the legal implications arising from the interaction of the believer with SanTO (Sanctified Theomorphic Operator), a robot designed to assist with prayer according to the Catholic faith. SanTO is a small hybrid device, made using 3D printing and inspired, in its appearance, by figures from the sacred tradition of religious art. To respond to requests, SanTO has two options depending on the circumstances or questions: it can draw answers from its local database or consult a Large Language Model. The robot focuses on Catholic doctrine and can be used in various contexts: accompanying prayer, quoting passages from the Bible and the Gospels, and narrating the lives of saints or papal homilies. This paper aims to examine, from a legal point of view, the relationship between SanTO's functionalities, with particular emphasis on LLMs, and canon law, as well as the critical issues that may arise. In fact, canon law plays a central role in this analysis, as it defines the correct ways of spreading the Gospel message within an autonomous system like the Catholic Church.