The Rival Theologies of Artificial Intelligence

Last month, Pope Leo XIV presented the papal encyclical Magnifica humanitas, laying out the Catholic Church’s definitive response to the crisis occasioned by the explosive growth of the AI industry. Artificial intelligence is not a side note to the main projects of Leo’s papacy, nor is it a new concern for him. In his first official address two days after his election to the papacy, Leo XIV stated that he saw his task as shepherding the Church through “developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labour,” just as Leo XIII, the inspiration for his papal name, guided the Church through the tumult of the Industrial Revolution. Indeed, Magnifica humanitas is no ordinary Vatican encyclical: it is the first to be presented to a mass audience by the Pope himself rather than delegated to a cardinal.