magisAI

magisAI is a Catholic AI assistant that answers questions about faith, science, philosophy, and Scripture, and footnotes every answer with the source it came from. The Magis Center built it for students, teachers, catechists, parents, and pastors who want an answer they can check rather than one they have to take on trust.

The research library behind it draws on the work of Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ together with contemporary scholarship in science, philosophy, history, scriptural exegesis, social science, and theology. Roughly 2,000 pages across 20 categories sit behind the answers, and every claim carries a footnote that opens the article it came from.

The difference shows up fastest in a comparison. Ask magisAI and a general AI assistant the same question about the faith, then look at what each one cites.

magisAI answers a question in seconds, names the source behind the answer, and lets you open that source and read it for yourself. Everything below works on iPhone, Android, and in a browser.

• Footnotes on every answer. Each answer carries the source it came from, and the footnote opens the article so you can check it.

• A research library, not a single bookshelf. Answers draw on Fr. Spitzer’s work and on contemporary scholarship in science, philosophy, history, Scripture, social science, and theology.

• Answers at your reading level. The default answer is pitched at about a college junior. Change the level from the answer box, anywhere from fifth grade to college senior.

• Ask aloud. Sign in, say “Hey Magis,” and ask your question out loud. You hear the answer and read the transcript.

• Saved sessions. Sign in and magisAI keeps your sessions, so you can come back to an answer rather than asking again.

• Sixty languages. Ask in your own language and the answer comes back in it.

• Free to start. A free Member account brings 90 questions a month and the full source library.

A general AI assistant answers from the open internet and rarely tells you which part. magisAI answers from a reviewed Catholic research library and names the source for every claim it makes.

• Footnotes you can open. Every claim carries a citation, and the citation opens the article behind it. Nothing rests on trusting the answer.

• A reviewed library. Answers are consistent with the teaching of the Catholic Church and with contemporary scholarship. Version 2.0 added more than 600 new resources.

• Focus Rooms. A Focus Room gathers the sources on a single subject in one place. The Shroud of Turin room is open at launch, with rooms on the Eucharist, Guadalupe, Fatima, and Lourdes to follow.

• Guardrails. magisAI does not speak in the first person and flags questions it should not take on. It is an intellectual resource rather than a pastoral or magisterial one, there to support the people who teach and accompany and never to stand in for them.

The test takes ten minutes. Ask both assistants the same question, then compare the citations rather than the prose.

magisAI answers questions across theology, philosophy, science, and the moral life. These are the subjects it is asked about most.

• Scientific and rational evidence for God, for Jesus, and for life after death

• The Shroud of Turin and what the science actually establishes

• The transphysical soul and the reality of the Eucharist

• Jesus’ historicity, resurrection, and divinity

• Reading and interpreting Scripture in harmony with reason and science

• Central Catholic doctrines such as the Trinity and the Incarnation

• Faith and science questions, from cosmology to multiverse theories

• The four levels of happiness and how to live at the highest level

• Suffering, and how Christian faith transforms it into meaning and growth

• Contemporary moral questions explained in terms of human flourishing and justice

• Beginning a Catholic spiritual life: sacraments, prayer, devotion, and conversion

Ask a question, read or hear the answer, then open the footnote to see where it came from. That is the whole loop, and it takes less than a minute.

1. Type your question in the box on the main screen. Or sign in, say “Hey Magis,” and ask it out loud.

2. Read the answer, or listen to it and follow the written transcript.

3. Open a footnote to read the source behind any claim.

4. Ask for “more information” to go deeper, or name the part you want expanded, such as “expand on near death experiences.”

5. Ask magisAI to simplify if the answer is pitched too high, or set the reading level from the answer box.

6. Sign in to save the session, so you can come back to it later.

How to compare two AI answers about faith in ten minutes

Ask magisAI and a general AI assistant the same question, then put the two answers side by side and ignore the prose. Look only at what each one cites, whether you can open those sources, and whether they say what the answer claims they say. That comparison, rather than an argument about AI, is what shows a student the difference.

Teachers and parents can take it one step further. Read the source together, then ask what the source actually establishes and what it does not.

magisAI is free to start. A free Member account brings 90 questions a month and the full source library. Two paid plans raise the monthly question count, hold more saved sessions, and open more of the app.

Saving a session requires an account. Anyone can ask magisAI a question without one, but sessions are kept only once you are signed in.

magisAI is free to start because donors keep it that way. Support the mission.

Schools and parishes can put magisAI in front of students and adults through an institutional download. Teachers use an answer as the start of a discussion rather than the end of one.

Use it for adult formation, OCIA (formerly RCIA), and confirmation, and as a research companion as you study. It is an intellectual resource, not a pastoral one: it can help you find sources and clarify arguments, but it is meant to support what you already do, never to stand in for your own prayer, preparation, and presence with the people you serve.

To learn more, read about institutional downloads for schools and parishes, or book a meeting with Elijah King.

The Magis Center also publishes a faith and science video series for high schools, a confirmation and catechesis series, and the Magis Institute for Teachers and Catechists.