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Magnifica Humanitas – Disarming Artificial Intelligence

A couple of days before Magnifica Humanitas was published by Pope Leo XIV, the Australian musician and comedian Tim Minchin was interviewed on the radio about artificial intelligence (AI) at the Hay Festival. He spoke with great clarity about how the problem with AI is the lack of any proper idea of intention, and he called for people to be ‘belligerent’ in their reactions to it. At the press conference which launched the encyclical, the Holy Father stressed his call in the text to ‘disarm AI’; while much of what Minchin said chimes with the pope’s insights, the different use of military language is striking.

Magnifica humanitas and the call to holiness

With his social encyclical Magnifica humanitas, Pope Leo XIV has made good the promise contained in the choice of his name. It is a pastoral document that reaches out to non-Christians. It invites all to enter dialogue and engage in discernment. At the same time, it is a document firmly rooted in the Christian revelation of a triune God from whom all wisdom flows. Leo XIV evokes the tower of Babel as a negative example of human pride and to the wise architect Nehemiah who patiently rebuilds Jerusalem as a positive image. He calls for multilateralism and diplomacy rather than for a global political authority as some of his predecessors had done.

Magnifica Humanitas – on the “new things” of the 21st century

‘We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fulness in Christ, the splendour of which no machine can ever replace’ (Magnifica Humanitas, 15)

AI – constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem?

The title of the encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, affirms the irreplaceable value of human beings, a theme which runs through the document. I was struck by the clarity with which Pope Leo lays out briefly the development of the social doctrine of the Church, emphasising the legitimate but distinct roles of Church and state. This gives a sound foundation for evaluating artificial intelligence (AI), and technology more broadly — how it can be used for good whilst it clearly has some built-in dangers? Pope Leo calls AI ‘A valuable tool that requires vigilance.’ AI presents unique challenges, but the criteria we need to judge how to act in response to those challenges are already to hand, in the form of Catholic social teaching.

AI at the Service of Humanity and the Church

Introduction

This article does not address the risks or dangers of artificial intelligence – that subject is covered in multiple places. Nor will it go into the questions that fascinate me as a philosopher: the nature of intelligence, consciousness, self‑awareness, etc. Instead, it will address an important practical topic. I will reflect on how AI can serve humanity and the Church.

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