Pope Leo XIV just published his first encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity) on safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence. The pope believes technology could reduce our human dignity. By replacing people with machines, the value of work would be diminished causing us to lose our sense of purpose.
The encyclical is quite lengthy. As a good Catholic, I wanted to read it, but I lack sufficient intelligence of my own to grasp some of his concerns. As a society, we seem to be in fear of artificial intelligence without fully understanding what it is or how it will affect our lives. The encyclical is apparently intended to make us aware of the dangers.
In our area, people are fighting against the construction of data centers that are apparently needed to support artificial intelligence. These are huge buildings containing servers that hold data, I assume. Considering the tremendous computing power and storage contained in my little iPhone, I cannot even imagine what all these data centers can do. They also consume huge quantities of water for cooling purposes which some people believe will compromise our water supplies. To determine the validity of these concerns, I can go online to find answers, but they will likely be generated by artificial intelligence which may be a bit biased. To be honest, I lack sufficient intelligence to ask an intelligent question about artificial intelligence..
Instead of worrying about all of the bad things Pope Leo is concerned about, what about the possibility of artificial intelligence (AI) doing good things? To what extent Is artificial intelligence able to reason? If AI is truly intelligent, would it not always seek the truth? Suppose AI learns all of the ancient languages of the world, the definition of each word, how that word was used over the centuries in different contexts, and how those words were assembled in various ages to express ideas. Suppose AI becomes capable of reconstructing the past with enough precision to eliminate debate over meanings and interpretations of history.
What if AI learns to filter out the bias that taints every opinion of imperfect men? What if AI can instantly distinguish fact from fiction? What if AI finds solutions to every conflict, and cures for every disease? What if AI analyzes and verifies the Summa Theologica work of Thomas Aquinas? What if AI learns the benefit of being oriented to the good and thereby steers mankind toward God? What if AI learns to seek the gifts of the Holy Spirit? What if AI settles all debate of the interpretation of Scripture, clearly showing the Catholic Church to be divinely instituted by Jesus Christ, true God and true man? What if AI leads the whole world to Jesus and His Church? Would the entire world convert? Probably not, but Imagine the possibilities!
