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Pope Leo XIV is preparing to release his first encyclical on artificial intelligence, the Vatican’s planned teaching that centers the Catholic “human person” in the age of AI. NPR reports the encyclical is titled magnifica humanitas—“magnificent humanity” in Latin—and that the Vatican says it will focus on “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” The message is expected to be directed to the world’s approximately 1.4 billion Catholics.
On NPR’s “All Things Considered” segment, host Ayesha Rascoe spoke with Meghan Sullivan, an ethics professor at the University of Notre Dame and director of the university’s ethics institute, about what the encyclical may say. Sullivan said it is “always dangerous” to predict details before the pontiff releases the text, but she pointed to themes she expects based on Pope Leo XIV’s leadership and priorities.
Sullivan said she expects Pope Leo to urge a global perspective on the people affected by artificial intelligence. She argued that, at present, much of the AI debate centers on the U.S. and China and on major technology companies, while Pope Leo—leading a global religion with growing adherents in places such as Africa and South America—will likely speak more directly for communities outside that narrow focus.
Rascoe asked whether Pope Leo’s encyclical could extend beyond religious audiences. Sullivan said the encyclical’s framing is likely to matter to people of other faiths and to those who are not religious, particularly once readers digest the document and the Vatican programs expected to follow it. She said many would find the message compelling if it aligns with their values—especially the idea that people should think more carefully about the economic changes AI can bring, and about how AI is shaping childhood and education.
Sullivan also said Pope Leo is likely to weigh in on work and employment. She said AI may cause “a lot of people to lose access to meaningful work,” and may change working conditions in ways that require people “to behave a whole lot more like machines and a whole lot less like human beings.” In Sullivan’s view, the pope will argue that even if AI brings short-term economic benefits, societies need to keep building an economy that creates humane working conditions for all.
Rascoe pressed on whether a two-thousand-year institution like the Catholic Church still has relevance in a rapidly evolving technology conversation. Sullivan said it does, arguing that major AI companies such as Anthropic, Google, and Microsoft are competing to develop products for a global market and will only succeed if many people are willing to trust AI in everyday life. She described trust as a requirement for AI products to enter daily routines, including being used in children’s schools and in workplaces.
In the discussion, Rascoe also raised the broader political landscape around AI regulation, including efforts by President Trump and reported disagreements involving Anthropic’s work connected to the military. Sullivan said she expects world leaders to continue struggling over regulation in the coming year or two. She added that the difference she expects from Pope Leo’s approach is that he is likely to speak on behalf of a global human community rather than focusing primarily on national interests in the way she said leaders such as Xi Jinping and President Trump often do.
Sullivan said the center of Pope Leo’s ethical argument will be whether AI helps or harms “human beings better flourishing,” and whether people are being left behind. She said she expects the encyclical to turn attention away from “the technology and what cool new feature it has this month” and toward questions about human outcomes, including how people fare as AI becomes more embedded in schools and workplaces.