THE GREATEST threat to humanity is not that machines are becoming more intelligent, but that human beings risk becoming “highly intelligent, but no longer wise,” Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David said during the Misa de Apertura, or the opening Mass of the new academic year, on Aug. 5.
In his homily, David underscored the University’s role not only in teaching students how to think but also how to “discern.”
“We tend to judge people by appearances, by headlines, by edited videos, by rumors, by algorithms that feed us only what we already like to hear,” he said.
“The greatest danger today is not that machines are becoming intelligent; the greater danger is human beings become highly intelligent, but no longer wise. That is why we invoke the Holy Spirit at the beginning of each academic year,” David added.
He said the highest form of intelligence is not measured by grades, academic publications, rankings or even artificial intelligence, but by the ability to discern truth from falsehood.
Despite differences in people’s abilities and vocations, David said all forms of intelligence should be guided by what he called “spiritual intelligence.”
“Hindi pare-pareho ang ating mga kakayahan, hindi pare-pareho ang ating calling, hindi rin pare-pareho ang mga paraan ng paglilingkod,” the Kalookan bishop said.
(We do not all have the same abilities, we do not all share the same calling, and we do not all serve in the same way.)
“A university becomes a beautiful community not because everyone is the same, but because each one brings a different gift,” he said.
David said artificial intelligence is neither inherently good nor evil because every tool or technology must ultimately be directed by the human person.
“Only moral and spiritual intelligence can answer the more important questions, ‘Should we do it? Will it serve the common good? Will it respect and uphold human dignity?’” he said.
David, 67, has been bishop of Kalookan since 2016, clashing with the Duterte government over its bloody war on drugs, which victimized members of his flock.
The Pampanga-born biblical scholar and Ateneo de Manila alumnus served as president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines from 2021 to 2025.
He was elevated to the rank of cardinal by the late Pope Francis in 2024 and participated in the 2025 conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States.
As the new academic year began, David urged Thomasians to pray not only for intelligence but also for wisdom and discernment.
Drawing from the gospel reading on the Beatitudes, he said such wisdom would make humans understand why Jesus Christ said the poor in spirit, the meek, and the persecuted are “blessed,” even if the modern world held the opposite view.
“We begin the school year by praying not only, ‘Lord make us intelligent,’ but more importantly, ‘Lord make us truly wise, and truly discerning. Lord, allow us to see the world as you see it,’” David said.
Rector Fr. Richard Ang, O.P. and Dominican Prior Provincial Filemon dela Cruz Jr., O.P. and other Dominican priests concelebrated the morning Mass. With reports from Tatyana Sabeerah R. Maranan
