Pope Leo XIV Releases Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on AI and Human Dignity

Pope Leo XIV explained that he chose his papal name in honor of Leo XIII, intending to present the Church's social doctrine in response to the "another industrial revolution" of AI development, mirroring how the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed social issues within the context of the First Industrial Revolution.

In paragraph 98 of the encyclical, he stated that current AI systems are "cultivated" rather than "designed," and that even the developers themselves do not fully understand the fundamental scientific aspects, including internal representations and computational processes. In paragraph 100, he mentioned that AI responses reflect cultural assumptions and that the impression of objectivity may lead to excessive dependence. In paragraph 83, he argued that development should be centered on human dignity and must not be biased toward the accumulation of wealth or the shifting of burdens onto specific regions.