In a world where artificial intelligence (AI) is advancing by leaps and bounds, voices calling for ethical and social reflection are multiplying. The most recent and globally impactful comes from the Vatican itself: Pope Leo XIV has published Magnifica Humanitas: On the Custody of the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence, the first encyclical of his pontificate entirely dedicated to AI. This document has not only sparked debate in religious circles but has also resonated deeply with governments, tech companies, and public opinion, especially in the United States, where the need to regulate AI is being discussed.

An Encyclical That Stirs Consciences

Leo XIV is not the first pope to address technology. Leo XIII wrote about the Industrial Revolution in 1891, and Francis warned in Laudato Si' (2015) about the risk of technology dominating human beings. However, Magnifica Humanitas is the first encyclical to place a specific technology—AI—at the center of its analysis in a systematic way. The Pope calls it a "new industrial revolution," comparable to that of the 19th century, and argues that AI is not neutral: it depends on who creates it and for what purposes. Its mission must be to serve humanity, never to dominate it.

The document reopens fundamental questions: What does it mean to be human? Who controls technology? How can we avoid a society dominated by algorithms? These issues resonate especially in the business and technology sectors, where AI is already transforming processes, jobs, and business models. As we noted in our article "It Was the AI" Won't Save You When EU Regulators Knock on Your Door, the lack of transparency and the concentration of power in few hands are risks that companies must manage.

AI: Tool or Threat?

The Pope warns about the risks of AI: concentration in big tech, inequality, loss of human autonomy, and military use. To delve deeper into these ideas, COMPUTERWORLD interviewed Alberto Pascual, president of ASLAN and executive director of Ingram Micro Spain, and Mario Escobar, writer and expert on the figure of the pontiff.

Pascual points out that technology is an amplifier of human values. "If there is a spiritual crisis, AI will reflect it magnified." The biases of designers, companies, and governments are incorporated into models, impacting truth, justice, health, and employment. Therefore, he advocates for recovering eternal values and critical thinking.

Escobar, for his part, highlights the lack of neutrality of AI. "It is created by large corporations with their own ideology. AI repeats what it has been allowed to repeat, and sometimes it is blocked on topics it considers dangerous." This can lead to a few imposing their worldview, reminiscent of Orwell's novel 1984.

The Risk of a 'Technological Babel'

In the encyclical, the Pope warns of a "new Babel" based on uniformity and power. Escobar explains that the figure of Babel symbolizes forced unity that sacrifices diversity. Pascual adds that concentration in few developers flattens the differences that enrich humanity. To avoid this, he proposes algorithmic transparency and independent audits, topics we also address in Snowflake Arms Itself with Natoma: The Governance Fabric AI Agents Need to Not Be a Business Risk.

AI at the Service of the Common Good

The pontifical text insists that technology can build or divide. Pascual suggests revisiting the concept of the common good, prioritizing uses that humanize over those that dominate or exclude. Escobar goes further: the Pope speaks of "techno-fascism," governed by oligarchies that create opinion and ideology. "AI dissolves into a mass guided by an impersonal logic," he warns.

The concentration of technological power in large transnational companies is another critical point. Pascual calls it "digital colonialism" and advocates for strong international regulations, transparency, and accountability. Self-regulation has been insufficient, so he proposes cooperation between companies, states, academia, and the Church.

Remaining Profoundly Human

One of the central ideas of the encyclical is the need to remain human. Escobar sums it up: "AI can imitate the human, but it is not human. It lacks emotion, consciousness, moral discernment." Pascual adds that we must safeguard freedom, fragility, empathy, and critical thinking, avoiding transhumanist temptations that reduce man to a useful machine.

Implications for Companies and IT Professionals

For IT professionals, this encyclical is a reminder that AI is not just a technical tool but a phenomenon with profound ethical and social implications. Regulation, governance, and transparency are already on the agenda of the EU and other regions. As we saw in Claude Opus 4.8: The New Era of Control and Transparency in AI for SysAdmins and DevOps, the industry is moving towards more auditable and controllable models.

Cybersecurity is also affected: AI can be both a defense and an attack vector. In Anthropic's Mythos Preview Detects 10,000 Vulnerabilities: The New Bottleneck in Cybersecurity, we saw how AI is used to identify flaws, but it can also generate risks if not properly governed.

In short, Magnifica Humanitas is much more than a religious document: it is a call to action for all actors—governments, companies, developers, and citizens—to work together so that AI serves the common good and not the other way around.

Original source: ComputerWorld. Analysis and adaptation by ForgeNEX.