Pope Leo XIV will address the topic of artificial intelligence in his first universal encyclical, which was signed on Friday, May 15, and will be published on May 25, said the Vatican on Monday. The encyclical, entitled Magnifica humanitas, will discuss the preservation of human dignity in the growing age of AI, an issue that Pope Leo has warned against at a few occasions in the first year of his pontificate.
Reflecting on Pope Leo’s message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications on May 17, which focused on the theme ‘Preserving Human Voices and Faces’ and foreshadowed much of what is expected from his encyclical, Archbishop Eamon Martin summarised the pontiff’s words into a simple truth: “Christian communication recognises the person before us.”
Archbishop Martin described Pope Leo’s choice in addressing AI as “courageous” and thoughtful. “He reminds us that, at a time when technology can imitate the human face, clone the human voice, simulate affection, produce convincing falsehoods, and shape what people see, think and feel, we must ask ourselves whether our communication is truly recognising, protecting and serving the human person,” said the archbishop in his statement. “Pope Leo XIV’s message asks us to return to a simple but demanding truth: every human being has a face and a voice.”
Archbishop Martin urged his audience to turn inwards and reflect on their own methods of social communication. Posing a question to listeners, he said “We might all ask, in our families, parishes, schools, public life and online spaces: do we preserve the dignity of faces and voices? Or do we reduce people to labels, images, reactions and data?”
The Armagh archbishop underlined the pope’s warning that we must fight to keep thinking and discerning for ourselves, noting that AI cannot replace “conscience, wisdom and the slow work of truth.”
According to a Vatican statement on Monday, Pope Leo will be present at the press conference and panel marking the publication of Magnifica humanitas on May 25, alongside Christopher Olah, co-founder of artificial intelligence company Anthropic, and leading theologians and cardinals.