How the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas offers a template for individuals to meet the AI moment

Opinion How the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas offers a template for individuals to meet the AI moment Despite a lack of regulation, we still have the ability to steer artificial intelligence in ways that can benefit our common humanity. By Séamus Finn archive page Susan Francois archive page May 29, 2026 Basilica of the Sagrada Familia Barcelona, Spain AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical on artificial intelligence includes a statement that warrants serious attention from technologists and policymakers: “Technology is never neutral.” Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”) is a clarion call to all people to act with courage and solidarity as we enter an age already being transformed by artificial intelligence, the greatest change in human life since the Industrial Revolution. As the pope says, the choice before us—the choice AI presents—is one between the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of our common humanity. In the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, humans sought to build a massive structure that reached all the way to Heaven, only to have their project thwarted when God made those involved unable to understand one another. It was a pursuit fixated on relentless growth, divorced from any concern about God’s commandments or the human cost. It resulted in failure and atomization. The Book of Nehemiah, however, offers a contrasting narrative, in which the rebuilding of Jerusalem after a period of violence and displacement becomes an opportunity for humanity to show its collaborative resilience. As the encyclical puts it, “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.” Is there any question which road we are currently barreling down? And can there be any doubt which we would do well to walk togethe