This week there has been much attention given to the new and first encyclical of Pope Leo XIV. Magnifica Humanitas is subtitled, On Safeguarding the Human Person in the time of Artificial Intelligence. The subtitle gives the clue as to what is at stake in this document. We will learn more about the safeguarding of the human person than about artificial intelligence.
The document reminds is that “The Church is present in the world as a sign of unity for the entire human family. She recognises today’s questions and challenges as the current setting in which to carry out her particular vocation of listening, dialogue and service, and of being responsive to everything concerning the lives of contemporary men and women. This involvement in people’s lives helps the Church understand ever more clearly that her mission has a historical scope and entails a responsibility for the way in which social relations are built. For this reason, she cannot consider herself a stranger to the forces shaping society. On the contrary, the Church actively participates in the processes by which society grows and is organized, and she offers her own contribution to the creation of a more just and fraternal society. (MH 19).
In the light of this statement Pope Leo has called for a disarmament of Artificial Intelligence whenever human dignity, solidarity or full participation in work and life is diminished.
In relation to war, Pope Leo states clearly that the disproportionate harm done by the use AI weaponry had rendered any just war obsolete: “Today, more than ever, without prejudice to the right to self-defense in the strictest sense, it is important to reaffirm that the “just war” theory, which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated.” (MA192)
I am sure we will see and hear much more about this Encyclical as it comes to be known as the Churches twenty-first century magna carta on the protection of human beings in light of Artificial Intelligence. The full Encyclical can be found at the website of the Holy See: www.vatican.va