Instrumentum: A CatholicOS Creation Hackathon
The One-Day Hackathon: a Catholic Open Source Project, sponsored by the Catholic University of America.
November 8 | Pontifical Ukrainian College of St. Josaphat
Co-led by Taylor Black (Microsoft AI, the Catholic University of America, CatholicOS), this closing day turns the Builder's AI Forum from reflection into creation. The CatholicOS Hackathon is a formative lab where students, founders, and faculty design technologies ordered toward the Good, the Beautiful, and the True. Participants learn to see AI not as an idol but as an instrument—a tool that, when rightly used, advances wisdom and human flourishing.
Purpose
We'll start the day with a 20 minute presentation on the concept of Hackathon:
1) What is a hackathon?
2) Why it's an incredibly useful & versatile pedagogical tool.
3) Different kinds of hackathons for different purposes and outcomes.
Next we'll have a presentation from Lucas Wall on his AI building ecosystem https://almma.ai/ which allows creators to rapidly build and monetize AI applications.
We'll then start building!
Participants prototype open-source tools, ventures, and creative projects emerging from the Builder's AI Forum conversations and the CatholicOS ecosystem—ranging from AI applications and digital humanities projects to pastoral, educational, and artistic innovations.
Here's the Catholic Open Source repo: CatholicOS
Feel free to bring your own projects or to respond to a new set of challenges:
What would it mean to have a "parish-in-the-loop"? What would that look like? What experiences would it enable?
How can we connect Catholic volunteer opportunities to volunteers?
What would a human flourishing oriented chatbot experience feel like? What would it look like?
What kinds of data does the Builder's AI Forum need to accomplish it's goals? What kind of data ecosystem?
Over the course of our build cycles, in addition to solving and working through technical questions, we'll also approach our work from a deep understanding of the Human Person grounded in Catholic anthropology, asking:
What good does this advance for the person and the community?
What vision of human dignity and freedom is expressed in its design?
What next step could carry it toward real-world impact and service?
Schedule Highlights
10:00 – 10:30 Opening Reflection: AI as Instrument, Not Idol
10:30 – 12:30 Team Formation & Build Cycle I: Incarnating Ideas
12:30 – 13:30 Midday Pause: Reflection & Meal + A refresh on the concept of a hackathon for new arrivals
13:30 – 15:00 Build Cycle II: Participation & Practice
15:00 – 16:00 Presentations & Demos
Afterward
Selected initiatives continue through the CatholicOS Pilot Track (2025–26) and may receive funding or incubation support from aligned venture-building groups, investors, and partner organizations.