Because I work in the tech sector, I’m often asked about what I think of Pope Leo’s latest encyclical regarding artificial intelligence — Magnifica Humanitas. Overall, I think he takes a fair and balanced approach to the topic. He shows much humility saying that he’s not an expert in this emerging and ever-changing field and speaks in general terms. He’s not calling out specific companies or applications, but rather he’s warning us of how this technology can be applied to distance ourselves from the people God calls us to be.
Saying that Pope Leo’s encyclical is about AI seems a little like click bait — using popular terms in titles and descriptions in internet articles to get read. I guess even the pope can’t resist using social buzzwords to generate interest. While he often refers to artificial intelligence, many of the arguments he makes can be applied to technology and our society in general. In fact, many of the warnings, such as social isolation, lack of purpose, and the decline in family cohesion applies more specifically to smart phones. In other words, this encyclical could have been written 15 years ago and still retain the same moral arguments.
Since artificial intelligence is still new and its long-term effects are uncertain, Pope Leo often uses the word “could.” AI could make wars easier to start and more destructive. AI could increase the exploitation of the poor. AI could turn the general population into a means to the financial ends of the world elites. And that’s the crux of the encyclical — it’s a warning of what could happen if we approach AI and technology without the proper moral grounding. The effect AI will have on the world depends on the moral character of those using it.
The actual discussion over AI is bookended between introducing Catholic social doctrine and addressing why we may dismiss this encyclical as a fanciful Catholic dream. Starting with the social doctrine provides a moral framework for the discussion of technology. This technology doesn’t exist in a vacuum but will either be used to accelerate our path to a better world or away from it. Pope Leo ends stating that much of what he wrote could be dismissed as a Catholic fantasy. Countries working together, an end to war, companies putting people before profits? He acknowledges that the Church’s desire may seem ludicrous. But so was Jesus’ teachings! Pope Leo said we need to at least be open to the possibility that we can move the world in the God-centered direction.
Pope Leo’s ending reminded me of the ending of one of my favorite movies — The Mission. At the end, after a massacre at a mission established for the natives in South America, the bishop and prominent aristocrats ask whether that massacre was necessary. The bishop’s sentiment echoes Pope Leo’s in his encyclical.
This talk about AI reminds me of another favorite movie of mine from the 1980’s — War Games. In this movie, a supercomputer runs a simulated Russian nuclear strike that the US missile command believes is real. One character, an expert in artificial intelligence, tells the general in charge that the scenario makes no sense and that the computer is creating a hallucination. It is this scenario, deferring decision making to machines, that Pope Leo warns us about. 43 years ago, this was the plot of a fictional movie. Now it’s a possible reality.
The encyclical is worth reading in its full form, even if you’re not interested or knowledgeable in the ethics of artificial intelligence. Pope Leo does a great job of explaining Catholic social teaching and the threats the modern world poses to us fully living as God intends. And that’s really what is at the heart of this encyclical — we can’t let our technology and modern comforts pull us away from the true happiness that only God can provide.