The internet is very loud about AI right now, so I want to tell you exactly where I stand in July of 2026, both personally and as a company, so you can start forming your own opinion. For the most part I'm team AI. I also think it's going to create some genuinely scary things in our society, the same way the internet and smartphones did. Both can be true.

My favorite thing about it? It cuts through the noise. Instead of clicking through twenty websites full of pop-ups and people trying to sell me something, I can ask a question and get a clear answer, then ask for the counterarguments too.

In this episode I walk through how I use it in real life (skincare, salad dressings, puppy training, fact-checking those sensational ads), the private questions you'd never Google, and exactly where I draw my hard lines. I also pull back the curtain on how Catholic Mom Calm uses AI and where we absolutely don't, so you know what's touched by it and what isn't.

WHAT WE COVER IN THIS EPISODE:

Where I land on AI in July 2026: mostly team AI, and clear-eyed about the harm too
My favorite thing about it, cutting through the internet's noise (Google's AI Mode, and always asking "what's the counterargument, and who's making it?")
The intimacy-call tip: asking private questions you'd never Google, telling it you're Catholic first, and deleting the thread
How I use it at home: skincare picks, homemade salad dressing, a week-by-week puppy plan, and fact-checking those sensational ads
Where I draw hard lines: not for prayer, not for religious art, and why real artists and musicians still make our work
How Catholic Mom Calm actually uses it (story research, email arcs, financials, coding the app) and where we still won't (design)
The Calm Catholic Kids app is out, why I made it "the most boring app ever," and a word on kids, AI, and Pope Leo's letter

EPISODE TIMELINE:

[00:00] – Where I stand on AI in July 2026
[05:00] – Cutting through the noise: Google's AI Mode and asking for both sides
[10:00] – The intimacy-call tip, and telling it you're Catholic
[15:00] – Skincare, salad dressings, puppy plans, and fact-checking sensational ads
[20:00] – Where I draw the line: prayer, religious art, and real artists
[25:00] – How Catholic Mom Calm uses AI (and how it doesn't)
[30:00] – The app is out, kids and AI, and Pope Leo's letter

LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED:

The Calm Catholic Kids app https://apps.apple.com/us/app/calm-catholic-kids/id6768798893
Calm Catholic Kids (buy the collections here, not through the app, so you skip Apple's 30%): https://calmcatholickids.com
Xavier Co-op (my new two-and-a-half-day hybrid school launching this fall): https://xaviercoop.com
Come to France with me this fall: https://catholicmomcalm.com/france/
My skincare routine: Cetaphil cream (I get this at costco) Blue Lizard sunscreen TruSkin Face Serum
Pope Leo's letter on AI: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html
The AI tools I mentioned: ChatGPT, Claude, Google's Gemini (AI Mode), and Grok

CHECK OUT MY WORK:

Website: https://catholicmomcalm.com
Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/catholicmomcalm
Mary's Heart, Martha's Order Planner: https://catholicmomcalm.com/planner