Shared patterns: how engineers and theologians approach values in design
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Researchers interviewed software engineers and theologians to understand how each group interprets religious and spiritual principles when designing technology.
The team questioned eight software engineers with limited religious backgrounds and eight theologians specializing in Catholic Social Teaching (CST), a tradition within the Catholic Church that informed Pope Leo XIV’s recent encyclical on artificial intelligence. They discovered that both groups often shared similar initial responses when asked to apply CST principles to technological designs.
However, the study revealed that theologians demonstrated a more expansive understanding of these principles than the engineers. While the engineers accurately grasped the core concepts, the theologians consistently considered a wider range of implications and nuances. This suggests that familiarity with values, alongside professional experience, shapes how those values are translated into practical design choices.
The findings indicate that designers new to a particular value system may accurately identify its basic tenets but require additional context to fully integrate it into their work. Further research could explore how to best facilitate this deeper understanding and bridge the gap between abstract principles and concrete technological applications.
