Dr. Helen Titilola OLOJEDE

It is no longer news that Pope Leo’s first encyclical, Magnificent Humanities, on artificial intelligence was released on May 25, 2026. In the coming weeks, I will share my summary of the documents and what stood out to me.

First, Magnifica Humanitas opens with two powerful Biblical images: the construction of the Tower of Babel and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. The first image illustrates humanity’s early attempt to build without recourse to God, while the second shows how Jerusalem, under Nehemiah's leadership, rebuilt its ruins through shared responsibility with the people of God. The two images are used to challenge humanity in the 21st century regarding our relationship with technology in the current digital revolution, with the need to shun the Babel syndrome, embrace Nehemiah’s tactic, and build for the common good, which has always been central to the Church’s teaching.

Chapter one - A dynamic approach faithful to the Gospel chronicles the emergence of the Church's social doctrine during the Second Vatican Council and references several other encyclicals.

 Chapter two - Foundations and the principles of the social doctrine of the Church, discusses these principles – common good, universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity, social justice- which are rooted in the human person being in the image of the Triune God and the supreme value of human rights.

 Chapter three - Technology and dominance – the grandeur of humanity in light of the promises of AI, opens by critiquing the tendency to filter everything through a technological lens under the guise of efficiency at the risk of objectifying and the exploitation of humans. It thus emphasises that technology is not merely a tool but that it calls to mind the control tech and economic actors and not States have “over platforms, infrastructure, data and computing power” (95). AI must not be compared with human intelligence, as the former merely imitates some aspects of human intelligence, outperforming it in speed and computational capacity based on data processing.

Commenting on how AI can amplify power and economic imbalance, note the crucial role of data and how it should be treated with respect and not left in the purview of a few. Communities and intermediary organisations must be active participants and contributors to oversight and governance.

Chapter four - Safeguarding humanity at a time of transformation – truth, work, freedom, Noteworthy is the Pope’s apology for past slavery, the new form of colonialism in the crass extraction of various forms of modern-day slavery, and where mostly women and other vulnerable groups like children and adolescents are victims in the form of “data labelling, model training and content moderation, often involving disturbing material” (173) and other harsh working conditions.

Chapter five (to be continued)