The world is experiencing a dramatic shift in how economies work and people live because of the emergence of Artificial Intelligence. Such an enormous shift has not occurred since the Industrial Revolution, which changed nearly everything about how people lived. None of us individually can change the course of human history or the effect of certain technologies. Our practical realm of influence is limited. Yet God has given each of us an indispensable work to do, and that work comes out of who we are in Him.
A recent intercession in Evening Prayer read:
Lord, it is your will that men use their minds to unlock nature’s secrets and master the world, …May the arts and sciences advance your glory and the happiness of all peoples.
This intention deserves a big AMEN as Pope Leo XIV draws the world’s attention to the crucial importance of caring for the dignity of all people as AI’s raw power emerges. As the prayer says, we are called to use our minds, not outsource our thinking to machines.
Last November Pope Leo spoke to the U.S. National Youth Conference, saying:
Use (AI) in such a way that if it disappeared tomorrow, you would still know how to think, how to create, how to act on your own…
With these words he is warning us not to allow AI to rob us of something integral to our humanity for the sake of convenience or anything else.
Our Holy Father’s Letter to Us
In his new encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence, Pope Leo admonishes that this neutral technological tool has the potential to be used for great good or great ill. It is our responsibility to use it to “advance God’s glory and the happiness of all peoples,” as the Evening Prayer intention concludes.
Having just begun to delve into Magnifica Humanitas, it is apparent that even the introduction is filled with wisdom and clarity on the confusing subject of AI and how mankind should approach it. Referring to humanity’s intentions for using Artificial Intelligence, Pope Leo offers two contrasting biblical images to reflect on:
The Tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9):
…the people decided to build a city and a tower “with its top in the heavens”…they sought to guarantee stability and power for themselves, and above all to “make a name” for themselves. It was an impressive feat: a single language, a single technology, a single direction. However, the project…was conceived without reference to God, supported by a uniformity that eliminated diversity and that chose homogenization over communion…The result is not unity, but dispersion. Babel thus reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose, arises from self-affirmation, sacrifices human dignity for efficiency and aspires to reach heaven without God’s blessing.
The image of the Tower of Babel is contrasted to the Rebuilding of the Walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 2-6):
…Nehemiah…received news of the disastrous state of his ancestral city. Before taking action, he fasted, prayed and interceded for the people. He then asked the king for permission to return to Jerusalem and, upon arriving, examined the destroyed areas in silence. He did not impose solutions from above. He convened the families, assigned each of them a section of the wall to rebuild, listened to their concerns, coordinated their efforts and addressed any opposition. The narrative shows how the city is reborn, not through the initiative of one man, but through the shared responsibility of all: men, women, priests, artisans, heads of households and young people all play a part. It is an undertaking with God at the center, which rebuilds relationships before rebuilding with stones. Thus, ancient Jerusalem rediscovers a common language—not one of uniformity, but one of communion, namely the harmony that arises when all persons assume their own role and recognize that their strength comes from the Lord.
Our Holy Father then invites us to bring the Holy Spirit into this transitional era of history to:
…avoid the “Babel syndrome,” namely the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language—even a digital one—can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance.
The introduction of the encyclical then turns to the foundational ideas which must be upheld for AI to, “build for the common good.” Included is an idea related to the importance of each of us responding as Nehemiah did, not outsourcing our thinking or our responsibility and not building our own little towers of Babel:
…building a world in which everyone can flourish requires shared responsibility and courage….All are given their own section of the wall.
Concluding his introduction, Pope Leo encourages us to “remain human”:
In the era of artificial intelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human.
Behaving like Nehemiah: Responding to Dehumanizing Effects of AI
Only in following the prayerful model of Nehemiah can we play our part and answer our Holy Father’s call to remain human and help “rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.” We are called to begin our work in prayerful union with God, in cooperation with others who are also seeking the common good, and seeking to rebuild their section of the wall.
When we trust God and live a life of union with Him and communion with His people, we cease building our own individual towers and begin restoring the walls of inner-peace, inner Jerusalem. Through deeper prayer and relationship with God we will rebuild those walls day by day and brick by brick while each of us becomes the unique, not homogenous, persons God created us to be. Following the model laid out by Nehemiah of fasting, prayer, obedience to God and rightful authority, listening to and cooperating with others, we will advance in God’s grace wherever He is leading us.
As we rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in our own hearts and souls, we necessarily avoid building ourselves into towers of Babel without reference to God. This internal orientation will lead us to use any tool and all technology in ways that give God glory and serve humanity well. We will naturally desire to treat others as God treats us, as His beloveds to love, not as commodities to be manipulated and used.
Let us do our part. Let us not outsource our thinking and thereby degenerate our humanity. Let us begin our works with prayer and in communion with God’s people. Let us use AI and all technologies and tools at the service of God’s glory and of mankind’s good. And let us rebuild the walls of the City of God’s Peace brick by brick and day by day, no matter how the landscape of our time in history may shift and change.
Photo by Infralist.com on Unsplash
