A student sees a billboard: "Don't hire humans. Hire us robots."

He walks into class and asks his professor: What's the point of this degree?

That question—captured in this conversation—is the question of our era. And without a robust understanding of the human person, institutions struggle to answer it.

In this episode of Catholic Futurist, Benjamin Crockett sits down with Dr. Aaron Dominguez, Provost of Catholic University of America, and John Brahier, a Catholic educator and Director of Partnerships at Longbeard, to explore what happens when an entire generation of students begins to wonder if humans are becoming obsolete.

Timestamps:

• 0:00 - The Mirroring Effect of LLMs
• 5:54 - AI as a New Industrial Revolution
• 7:11 - Human Soul vs. Digital Simulation
• 12:15 - Responding to the "Hire Robots" Narrative
• 16:11 - Three Pillars for Human-AI Teams
• 19:47 - Protecting Human Dignity Amidst Job Loss

The conversation examines how the Church's understanding of Imago Dei serves as a safeguard against digital reductionism—the belief that humans are just a collection of automatable tasks.

Drawing on the launch of new AI degree programs at Catholic University and real challenges facing educators, they discuss:

• why education must remain an incarnational encounter
• the three pillars for ensuring technology leads to human flourishing
• how to prepare for a world where work is disrupted but dignity remains
• and what it means to find purpose when your profession may not exist in ten years