Overview
- Pope León XIV published Magnifica Humanitatis, a wide-ranging encyclical that diagnoses the “fourth industrial revolution” and demands a shared global ethical code for artificial intelligence.
- The text says technological leadership has shifted from states to private transnational actors and urges international regulation because private actors now hold resources and influence that many governments lack.
- The Pope argues that data should be treated as a common good rather than private property and calls for governance that prevents digital extraction and information being turned into exploitable commodities.
- León XIV warns that AI systems are not neutral, rejects transhumanist ideas that seek to surpass the human, rejects technological fixes for war, and calls for deep reforms of the United Nations to strengthen multilateral oversight.
- The encyclical accuses the digital economy of creating new forms of exploitation—from hazardous rare‑earth mining to low‑paid data labeling and platform-enabled trafficking—asks forgiveness for the Church’s historical role in slavery, and urges internal transparency and reparatory measures; it sets the stage for debates among states, the UN, technology firms, and civil society over concrete policy responses.