鈥楳agnifica Humanitas鈥�
Pope Leo XIV鈥檚 first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), addresses artificial intelligence and the protection of human dignity.
Officially signed on May 15鈥攖he 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII鈥檚 foundational industrial labor encyclical, Rerum Novarum鈥�Magnifica Humanitas聽addresses one of the principal challenges of the contemporary age. In it, the current pontiff voices a profound interest in aligning Catholic social teaching with the AI era, including warning against the dangers of substituting genuine human relationships with artificial ones, and uncritically relying on AI as an electronic seer.
In an unprecedented step, the pope鈥攋oined by theologians, scholars, and Christopher Olah, co-founder of AI company Anthropic鈥攑resented the encyclical in person at the Vatican Synod Hall on May 25.
鈥淎rtificial intelligence already touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human co-existence,鈥� Pope Leo said. 鈥淚 feel entrusted to look upon another huge transformation with eyes of faith, with lucidity of reason, with openness to mystery and with cries of the poor and the earth resounding in my heart.鈥�
Several 艾可直播 College 艾可直播and staff members reviewed the 235-page encyclical and offered their analysis and comments.
Fr. Philip Larrey
鈥淲e now have a road map for the use and development of this technology from a Catholic point of view,鈥� said Fr. Philip Larrey, a professor of the practice in the Department of Philosophy whose scholarly work includes a focus on the impact of the digital era of society.
鈥淪ince the beginning of his pontificate, Pope Leo has made AI a priority, and he specifies how important it will be to place human beings at the center and that (it should) be used for the benefit of all. The document gives us the opportunity to think deeply about this vital and highly relevant technology."
Mary T. Crane (Caitlin Cunningham)
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to see that聽Magnifica Humanitas聽has done what other leaders and institutions have thus far largely failed to do鈥攑rovide moral clarity about the status of generative AI and a call to action to mitigate its potentially dehumanizing effects,鈥� said Thomas F. Rattigan Professor of English Mary T. Crane, who noted that 艾可直播 College has already taken seriously the need to exercise discernment around uses of AI.
鈥淭he encyclical charges all educators at every level to take responsibility for student formation in what is now an entirely transformed educational environment. We need to do more to educate students about AI and to make it more difficult for them to yield to the powerful temptation to hand over their thinking, their voices, and their humanity to a machine.鈥�
Andrea Vicini, S.J. (Lee Pellegrini)
鈥淚n a profoundly Catholic way, which is strongly informed by the Second Vatican Council, Pope Leo XIV reflected on the challenges raised by artificial intelligence by situating them within a comprehensive assessment of human life and progress on the planet," said Theology Department Chair Andrea Vicini, S.J., Michael P. Walsh Professor of Bioethics and Professor Ordinarius. "Hence, the pope revisits the historic development of the social doctrine of the Church and its foundational and operative principles of human dignity, the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity, and social justice.
鈥淓mpowered by this vision of the world and of human agency, Pope Leo critically assesses the risk of developing and implementing the tool of artificial intelligence in ways that would increase inequities and social injustice. To avoid fostering an inhuman 鈥榗ulture of power,鈥� he stressed the need to build a 鈥榗ivilization of love鈥� that rejects war and promotes peace, eliminates trafficking, fosters integral ecology, promotes the dignity of work in the ongoing digital transition, and confesses the Church鈥檚 troubled history with slavery, abuse, and colonial power while asking for pardon. Inspired by Pope Leo XIV and by Catholic social doctrine, the challenges that humankind faces in the era of artificial intelligence could become a further opportunity to foster social justice and promote an inclusive and comprehensive common good.鈥�
Michael McCarthy, S.J. (Caitlin Cunningham)
鈥淲hat is most striking to me about the encyclical is how little there is about AI as such,鈥� said Michael C. McCarthy, S.J., dean of the Clough School of Theology and Ministry. 鈥淚nstead, Pope Leo focuses on the ways new technologies can diminish our capacity as humans to build up a world based on a vision of the 鈥榗ommon good.鈥� He certainly spells out the risks, and one of the common goods most vulnerable is truth itself.
"Rather than condemning AI, however, he urges individuals and communities to use it in creating a 鈥榗ivilization of love.鈥� He clearly recognizes the challenges. Yet I, for one, am grateful for a credible, positive voice that carries a moral authority and urges hopefulness.鈥�
Chris R. Glass (Lee Pellegrini)
Chris R. Glass, a professor of the practice and director of a graduate program in higher education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, who has researched artificial intelligence, offered the following: 鈥淭he encyclical elevates discourse of 鈥楢I as tool鈥欌�攚hat technology does for humanity鈥攖o 鈥楢I as civilizational threshold鈥欌�攚hat it does to humanity. In my reading, it treats artificial intelligence as a philosophical rupture that demands institution-building and governance equal to the task.聽It positions us at the beginning of the beginning, posing questions we should think about and discuss, clear-eyed, about AI's increasing capabilities. Its all-too-rare compound vision names multiple realities and holds them in tension, refusing any single聽deterministic narrative advanced by techno-optimists or pessimists alike, which聽is likely why it landed so well among serious thinkers across the political spectrum.鈥�
Sam Ransbotham (Lee Pellegrini)
Professor of Business Analytics Sam Ransbotham, the David J. Mastrocola Dean's Faculty Fellow in the Carroll School of Management who hosts a podcast titled "Me, Myself, and AI," echoed the pope鈥檚 warning that AI must not remain in the hands of a few.
鈥淗uman dignity that's built-in rather than earned, the common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity, social justice鈥攏one of this should require restating in 2026, but needing to is what's going wrong. A small number of AI firms now hold unprecedented power. The basic research that universities once cultivated in the open鈥攁s a public good鈥攏ow lives inside the handful of corporate labs that can afford the computing power. That shift turns shared knowledge into private property. The systems themselves are grown more than built, and inside those labs, market incentives take over. Even firms that agree on safety principles face commercial pressure to defect, and someone always does. It's a prisoner's dilemma, and failures with potential extinction consequences don't give you a second try. The thing to disarm is the race, not the technology. But how requires solving problems we have never faced. The next move belongs to all of us, each holding a section of the wall before a string of emergencies decides for us.鈥�
Aleksandar Tomic (Caitlin Cunningham)
鈥淭he pope drives home a strong message that our intent when it comes to the use of technology is much more important than the technology itself,鈥� said Aleksandar Tomic, the associate dean for strategy, innovation, and technology, at the Woods College of Advancing Studies and director of its graduate programs in applied economics and applied analytics, which recently hosted a conference on human-centered AI. 鈥淗e gives potent examples of both tremendous good and harm that can come from rapidly evolving AI and encourages us to not be idle bystanders but to take an active role in ensuring that the good outweighs the harm.
"He also warns us of the increasing alienation that AI brings that makes us more vulnerable to political polarization that leads to political聽exploitation...Magnifica Humanitas provides a prescription for better outcomes by encouraging us to build a stronger community, take a more active role in shaping the policies, and to actively engage with the technology so that we can better understand its uses, limitations, and dangers.
鈥淭here is a special encouragement to us as educators to focus on formation and teaching people how to search for truth, but also how to better understand and use the technology.聽
鈥淔or me, the two strongest messages are: It takes fostering human connection and in-person community building to overcome the dystopian prospects of the AI revolution and secondly, the constant reminder that machines cannot render moral judgment or emotional connection, emphasized in the very clear statement, 鈥楴o computational system, however sophisticated, can create a heart that gives itself, or a conscience that discerns good from evil.鈥�