Social Justice Corner: Magnifica Humanitas: How to Be Human

Magnifica Humanitas: How to Be Human

(adapted excerpt of National Catholic Reporter article by Daniel J. Daly)

Pope Leo XIV's encyclical Magnifica Humanitas makes several key theological and moral claims that have significant implications for human flourishing in the age of artificial intelligence.

According to Leo, humans flourish when they enjoy personal health and well-being, practice the virtues, engage in dignified work, enjoy leisure and cultivate friendship with God and neighbor. This vision contrasts with the technocratic paradigm, which views technology as the source of all human goods. The contrast becomes especially clear when Leo's vision is set alongside the hopes that animate many of today's most enthusiastic advocates of AI.

 In one of the most important passages of the encyclical, Leo rejects the techno-optimist dogma that AI will produce a rising tide that lifts all boats. He writes: 

While some regions spend heavily on superfluous interventions or dreams of individual enhancement accessible only to a select few, other parts of the world lack the essential equipment needed to save millions of human lives. To think that new technologies will automatically benefit everyone is to ignore the evidence. Unless transformations at the design stage prioritize the prevention of new and further disparities, technological progress will inevitably produce structural inequalities.

Pope Leo XIV's Magnifica Humanitas invites readers to reflect on how AI can both contribute to and threaten human flourishing. The pope surfaces important moral values and personal and social realities that the human community considers as it discerns the role of AI in society.