Five churches and Christian organisations in Switzerland published ten ethical principles on artificial intelligence on Monday 12 October 2026. Released under a title that swissinfo.ch renders in English as “Humanity in the Digital Age”, the document aims to bring together the Christian view of the human being and the concrete challenges posed by AI, according to the signatories’ joint press release relayed by the Keystone-SDA news agency.

Who adopted these guidelines

The text was drawn up by the Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, the umbrella association Freikirchen.ch, the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland and the Swiss Evangelical Alliance. Rita Famos, President of the PCS, finds it “encouraging” that these five bodies are speaking out jointly on the subject.

The scope of the initiative is worth clarifying. The authors are not public authorities: this is neither a law, nor an ordinance, nor a recommendation from a federal office. As presented, these principles are intended to serve as guidance for church institutions, communities and the organisations concerned. The available information mentions no oversight mechanism, no sanctions and no implementation timetable. It is therefore an internal frame of reference, whose effect will depend on how each organisation takes it up.

What the principles say

The starting point is put simply: technological possibilities must be assessed in terms of their contribution to human well-being. AI, the signatories point out, is transforming the way we learn, the way we work and the way we interact with one another.

Only one of the ten principles is quoted verbatim in swissinfo.ch’s report: “truth requires scrutiny and transparency”. Put this way, it touches on very practical questions for institutions that produce texts, communications or content for their members: checking what a tool generates and being transparent about its use. The details of the other nine principles are not included in the news agency report.

For Charles Morerod, President of the Swiss Bishops’ Conference, these guidelines aim to link theological questions with the concrete use of AI tools. Frank Bangerter, Bishop of the Christian Catholic Church of Switzerland, for his part stresses the social dimension: AI must not benefit only those who already hold power. “Technological progress is only good if it serves everyone,” he says, adding that these principles must deliberately take into account the people who would otherwise be left by the wayside.

Following Rome’s lead

The Swiss initiative comes a few months after Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical. In May, the head of the Catholic Church, which has 1.4 billion faithful worldwide, called in it for strict international rules governing the use of AI. Entitled “Magnifica Humanitas” and more than 100 pages long, the text warns of the many dangers this technology poses to human coexistence, while highlighting the possibilities it opens up.

The two approaches do not, however, belong to the same register. The Pope is calling for international rules, which would require action by states. The Swiss churches and organisations, for their part, are giving themselves a framework of use for their own structures, without claiming to regulate beyond that.

One framework among others

In Switzerland, this type of text adds to the charters, guidelines and codes of conduct that many organisations, whether companies, universities, administrations or newsrooms, are adopting to govern the use of AI internally. What these documents have in common is that they act on internal practices rather than setting general obligations, which are a matter for the legislator. The churches’ guidelines fit into this logic of self-regulation, with two distinctive features: an explicitly theological foundation and a declared focus on the people most at risk of being left behind by technology.

It remains to be seen how the institutions, communities and organisations concerned will translate these principles into their day-to-day operations. As the full text of the ten principles is not reproduced in the news agency report, their exact scope will only be measurable by reading it.

Sources

SWI swissinfo.ch (Keystone-SDA), “Swiss churches adopt ten guidelines on use of AI”, 12 October 2026