“The
highly anticipated text, signed by
the pope on May 15 and released May 25,
invokes
the wisdom of the Church’s social teaching as a framework for shaping AI
amid
rapid technological advances, a fractured global landscape and
accelerating
threats to human life and dignity”.
Gina
Christian
https://www.osvnews.com/babel-nehemiah-and-algorithms-a-guide-to-key-terms-in-pope-leos-new-encyclical-on-ai/
Babel,
Nehemiah and algorithms: A guide to key terms in Pope Leo’s new encyclical on
AI
written
by Gina Christian 5:31
AM May 25, 2026
(OSV
News) — What do the Tower of Babel, the biblical figure Nehemiah, algorithms
and realpolitik have in common?
They’re all discussed — along with integral human
development, the technocratic paradigm and Catholic social teaching — in Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica
Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial
Intelligence.”
This is Pieter Bruegel’s 1563 painting of the
"Tower of Babel." In "Magnifica Humanitas," Pope Leo XIV
writes that humanity "is today facing a pivotal choice: either to
construct
a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God
and humanity dwell together."
(OSV News photo/courtesy Kunsthistorisches Museum)
The highly anticipated text, signed by the pope on May 15 and released May 25,
invokes the wisdom of the Church’s social teaching as a framework for shaping
AI amid rapid technological advances, a fractured global landscape and
accelerating threats to human life and dignity.
Here’s a guide to some of the terms discussed in
the document.
- Artificial
intelligence: An umbrella term for technology that
emulates human intelligence. The ability to learn from data, recognize
patterns, solve problems, make decisions and generate original content
from human prompts are all features of AI.
In “Magnifica Humanitas,” Pope Leo writes that “it is not possible to provide a
single, comprehensive definition of AI.”
“What can be stated, however, is that we must avoid the misconception of
equating this type of ‘intelligence’ with that of human beings,” he continued.
“These systems merely imitate certain functions of human intelligence.
In doing so, they often surpass human intelligence in speed and computational
capacity, offering tangible benefits across many fields. Yet this power remains
entirely tied to data processing.”
AI is programmed in several computer languages, among them Python, C++,
Java and R. Everyday examples of AI in action include various types of chatbots
such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, online product recommendations
and virtual personal assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. AI has a
range of business applications across almost all market sectors, including
healthcare, education, energy and security.
- Algorithm: In
essence, a routine, step-by-step process for accomplishing a task. AI
algorithms, which are more complex, are designed to cover multiple “what
ifs?” in a given situation, and to learn from data on which they are
trained. Pope Leo cautions in his encyclical that AI algorithms can be
used to exert dominance over the vulnerable and over humanity itself,
while eroding responsibility and empathy.
“From this follows a simple but compelling consequence: we cannot consider AI to be morally neutral,” he writes. “In reality, every technical tool embodies choices and priorities through what it measures, ignores and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations.”
- Alignment: In
AI development, the process of ensuring the technology squares with human
values, so that AI models safely serve human interests. “Emergent
misalignment,” where AI deviates from such
norms and behaves detrimentally, is a growing concern among AI ethicists
and theologians. Pope Leo insists that alignment come with a further
condition: “the possibility of openly discussing the ethical frameworks
involved and subjecting them to shared standards of social justice.
Otherwise, those who control AI will impose their own moral vision,
which will become the invisible infrastructure of these systems.”
- Babel,
Tower of Babel: Described in Genesis
11:1-9, the city and tower built by the nations of the
earth in the valley of Shinar, after Noah and his family survived the
flood. Because the nations, which spoke the same language, undertook the
project in human pride, the Lord confused their speech, leading to
division and dispersion across the earth. In section seven of his
encyclical, Pope Leo uses this example to show “the limits of any effort
that, however grandiose, arises from self-affirmation, sacrifices human
dignity for efficiency, and aspires to reach heaven without God’s
blessing.”
- Catholic
social teaching (social doctrine): The Church’s
teaching — which draws on papal, conciliar and Church documents — on the
means of building a
just society and living out holiness
in modern life. As Pope Leo explains in his encyclical, the term was
coined by Pope Pius XII in 1950, but owes its development to “a long
tradition of ecclesial reflection on life in society, rooted in Sacred
Scripture, the Church Fathers and the theological and legal developments
of the Middle Ages and modern era.” Pope Leo also notes that his
“beloved predecessor” Pope Leo XIII propelled that tradition toward modern
applications in his 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum.”
Key principles of Catholic social teaching are the common good; the universal destination of goods, which holds that the goods of creation are meant for all (even when private property is justly acquired); subsidiarity, which stresses that society’s larger institutions, including the state, should not overwhelm or interfere with smaller ones (including families and Church communities); solidarity, which holds that humanity, even with its differences, is a family; and justice, which the Catechism of the Catholic Church says “consists in the constant and firm will to give their due to God and neighbor.”
In his encyclical, Pope Leo stresses that AI and its attendant power must be assessed against the principals of Catholic social teaching.
- City
of God, city of man: Symbols, respectively, of
faith in God and unbelief. The two are contrasted by St. Augustine in his
work best known as “The City of God.”
In his encyclical, Pope Leo (a member of the Order of St. Augustine who
regularly invokes the saint’s thought) cites the image and quotes St.
Augustine’s observation that “two loves have built two cities: the earthly
city, the love of self even to the contempt of God; the heavenly city, the love
of God even to the contempt of self.” Pope Leo then reflects, “As throughout
history, these two loves continue to contend for dominance in our hearts today.
The age of AI is no exception: the construction of Babel or the rebuilding of
Jerusalem begins within each one of us.”
§ Ecology of communication: A model for understanding the dynamic
between communications and the social order. The concept, sometimes called
“media ecology,” traces its roots to communications scholarship from the 1960s.
In his encyclical, Pope Leo uses the term in calling for, among other things,
transparency in Church communications, personal data protection and content
selection; digital and media literacy; serious journalism; information
verification; and the enhancement of critical thinking skills. Pope Leo notes
that such actions reflect “the fundamental principle” that “truth is a common
good and not the property of those with power and influence.”
§ Integral human development: A term found in St. Paul VI’s 1967
encyclical “Populorum Progressio” that views the flourishing of individuals
and peoples holistically — taking into account spiritual, cultural, moral and
relational concerns, with an eye not only to present but future generations.
The concept is central to Catholic social teaching (see above), with
Pope Francis establishing the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human
Development in 2016. In his encyclical, Pope Leo describes integral human
development as “the framework through which we can interpret the changes of our
time, including those brought about by the digital revolution.”
- Large
language model: A type of AI model capable of being trained
to understand and generate language in a human-like way, with context and
nuance.
- Multilateralism:
In international relations, the concept of cooperation among diverse
nations. Originally a geometry term for “many-sided,” multilateralism is
central to entities such as the United Nations, and to international
agreements on a rules-based order that safeguards human life and dignity.
In his encyclical, Pope Leo points to a crisis in the current multilateral
system, not only due to “structural limitations” but to “a frequent lack
of shared will to support and reform them, or to recognize their moral authority.”
He observes that the economic globalization following the collapse of Europe’s communist regimes in 1989 is far from “genuine multilateralism.” Instead, he writes globalization’s “almost blind faith in markets” has “provoked fundamentalist, identity-based and nationalistic reactions” and devolved into “a disorderly and conflict-ridden multipolarism with a prevailing sense of mistrust.” Shared efforts for a common good are further imperiled by reemerging attempts to “forge a collective identity in opposition to an enemy,” with each side claiming itself to be “a victim entitled to retribution” and replacing international law with the claim that “might makes right.” As a result, warns Pope Leo, power politics are sidelining peacebuilding initiatives and compromising “the achievements of humanitarian law,” with protections for civilians and “especially children” amid conflict “regarded as naïve relics of the past.”
- Nehemiah: Both
the name of the governor of Judah and the book found
in the Bible. In about 444 B.C., Nehemiah was granted permission from
Persian King Artaxerxes I to return to Jerusalem — where some Jews,
following the sixth-century B.C. Babylonian exile, had begun to resettle —
in order to rally and direct the people in a shared restoration of their
ancient city. Unlike Babel, said Pope Leo in his encyclical, this effort
under Nehemiah (and later under Ezra) placed “God at the center” and
prioritized “communion” and “rebuilding relationships” over “uniformity.”
- Political
realism, realpolitik: Political realism is a
political theory that prioritizes power over morals and ethics,
effectively holding that “might makes right.” In international relations,
realpolitik (a term first popularized in the 19th century) also privileges
power, as well as national interest, over other principles and
considerations, framing it as pragmatic politics. In his encyclical, Pope
Leo warns that both philosophies — the latter of which he condemns as
“truly irresponsible” — work to present war as inevitable, thereby
precluding genuine peace based on justice and charity.
- Technocratic
paradigm: A term also used by Pope Francis in his 2015
encyclical “Laudato
Si'” to describe a worldview in which humanity
employs technology with the guiding aim of “possession, mastery and
transformation,” rather than the humble, grateful stewardship of God’s
abundant gifts.
Pope Leo writes that this “pervasive technocratic paradigm … amplified
by the digital revolution and AI, threatens to normalize an anti-human vision.
In that vision, the fullness of life is equated with having more, reducing
weakness, eliminating uncertainty and exerting total control.
When efficiency becomes the ultimate measure of value, human beings are
tempted to see themselves as a project to be optimized rather than as persons
called to relationship and communion.”
- Transhumanist,
posthumanist: Transhumanism holds that humans can
transcend their limitations particularly through scientific advances such
as computer technology, cryonic preservation, biomedicine and other
technological interventions. Posthumanism counters the view that humans
are central, with some posthumanists advocating a hybridization of humans,
machines and the environment.
“Even when such ideas remain largely speculative, they gain relevance by altering the collective imagination and thereby influence social, economic and political choices,” Pope Leo writes in his encyclical.
He contrasts these views with the Christian understanding of humanity
as created by God, noting that human limitations are vital opportunities to
“recognize the inviolable dignity of every person,” live with compassion and
“encounter the presence of the Lord.”
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News.
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