{"id":16328,"date":"2026-05-26T21:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=16328"},"modified":"2026-05-26T21:05:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:05:00","slug":"pope-leo-encyclical-on-ai-good-summary-and-link-to-2nd-longer-summary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/?p=16328","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo Encyclical on AI; good summary and link to 2nd longer summary."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have not read it; prints out at 51 pages on the Vatican website and there are no pdf’s currently online. <\/em>I will read it – ordered it from Amazon but won’t have a hard copy or kindle for awhile. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The summary below (5 minute read) is from the Catholic League where presumably several people had advanced copies. And the link below that is from Ascension Press. Clearly Pope Leo is writing about much more than artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pope Leo Confronts AI<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May 26, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1891, Pope Leo XIII gave us the encyclical, Rerum Novarum <\/em>(\u201cnew things\u201d), which affirmed the dignity of work and the need for a fair wage. It was also a qualified endorsement of private property and a denunciation of socialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, on the 135th<\/sup> anniversary of that encyclical, Pope Leo XIV gives us \u201cMagnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.\u201d He begins by nicely laying out the moral groundwork that must undergird AI, and then he addresses his subject in detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo draws on Saint John Paul II who welcomed \u201cthe rise of democracy and the market economy.\u201d He picks up on that theme, emphasizing the right to private property, noting that \u201cit is always subordinate\u201d to the common good. That end presupposes that we are not just an aggregate of individuals; rather, we are \u201cinterconnected\u201d and are jointly responsible for the commonwealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To facilitate the pursuit of the common good, the pope says we must abide by the principle of subsidiarity, meaning that, ideally, civic duties should be handled at the level closest to the individual. To achieve this end we must strengthen \u201cthe fabric of associations and communities while avoiding further centralization of power.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo insists on coupling human rights with human dignity. Owing to our human dignity, human rights are \u201cuniversal and inalienable,\u201d and among those rights \u201cthe first is the right to life, from conception to its natural end.\u201d He explicitly cites abortion and euthanasia as contrary to human dignity and a violation of human rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus does he set the stage for a discussion of AI. At bottom, he understands that AI is here to stay, like it or not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Contrary to some media accounts, he is not opposed to it; rather, he is opposed to its manipulation in the hands of unscrupulous individuals and groups. Similarly, it has been misreported that when he says he would like to \u201cdisarm\u201d AI, he does not mean he wants to extinguish it. \u201cTo disarm,\u201d he writes, \u201cdoes not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technology, he says, can be a force for good or ill. He implores us to guard against the \u201crisk of dehumanization,\u201d i.e., \u201cbuilding a future that excludes God and reduces others to a means.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The digital revolution, the Holy Father says, has changed the principle of subsidiarity. No longer is the State the highest level\u2014now it is those who command the technological expertise to radically transform society. This means we must protect against the monopolization of data and decision-making authority. We must resist technological actors who seek to impose on us their grand designs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI is not human. Leo offers this insightful nugget. \u201cSo-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While AI has no moral conscience, the pope hastens to add that \u201cwe cannot consider AI to be morally neutral.\u201d That is because \u201cevery technical tool embodies choices and priorities through what it measures, ignores and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations.\u201d What worries him is the reality that \u201csmall but highly influential groups can shape information and consumption patterns,\u201d and affect political and economic dynamics to suit themselves, not the common good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the greatest dangers AI poses is the specter of transhumanism and posthumanism. It is undeniably true that the perfection of human beings is an obsession with some technocrats. Indeed, some think they can a create hybridization of human beings. \u201cIf the human being is treated as something to be perfected or surpassed,\u201d Leo warns, \u201cit becomes easier to accept that some lives are less useful, less desirable or less worthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pope is also adept at noting how unsupervised children are being swallowed up by digital devices and how social media is affecting their psyches. Lower attention spans, sleep deprivation, inability to control emotions\u2014all of this is well documented. Exposure to pornography, hypersexualized material, as well as cyberbullying, are threats to the wellbeing of young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He admonishes us not to allow AI to transform us into a new form of slavery. We are being reduced to \u201cdata\u201d that allows us to be tracked and treated as \u201cpackages\u201d to be moved around with abandon. It is not enough to \u201cinvoke efficiency,\u201d especially if it results in a \u201cchain of exploitation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pope Leo ends with a plea not to allow AI to be entrusted with war-like powers. \u201cNo algorithm can make war morally acceptable.\u201d Following Pope Francis, he says the \u201cjust war\u201d theory is \u201coutdated.\u201d He did not proffer an alternative thesis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Science tells us what we can do. It does not tell us what we should do. This powerful encyclical should reach an audience well beyond the Catholic community. Pope Leo XIV has given us much to weigh. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is the Ascension link – <\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/ascensionpress.com\/blogs\/articles\/a-complete-guide-to-pope-leo-s-encyclical-magnificent-humanitas<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have not read it; prints out at 51 pages on the Vatican website and there are no pdf’s currently online. I will read it – ordered it from Amazon but won’t have a hard copy or kindle for awhile. The summary below (5 minute read) is from the Catholic League where presumably several people […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,10,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-catholic-stuff","category-consistent-ethic-of-life","category-pope-leo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16328"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16332,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16328\/revisions\/16332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tomfarandasfolly.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}