What Pope Leo XIV’s First Encyclical Says About the Power of AI

The algorithm decides what we see, some filter what we read, and some enter into processes that drive activity, knowledge, and social choices. In the encyclical A Successful Person. the first signed by Pope Leo XIV and published on May 25, artificial intelligence it is not seen as another technology; it is part of the invisible foundation of our daily lives.

But the document is not thought of as a mere technical exhibition. Pope Leo XIV places the issue of AI in the tradition of the Catholic Church’s social teaching and directly asks – while reforming – New things of Pope Leo XIII (published on May 15, 1891) in the year of his 135th anniversary. This book answered the question of the working people at the time when the industrial revolution was at its peak in the late 1800s.

If the “res novae” of that time was industry, work, and corporate capitalism, today new issues revolve around digital platforms, algorithms, data, and automated systems that are reshaping power, wealth, and relationships. In this regard, the encyclical does not present itself as a technical document about new developments, but as an attempt to interpret the digital revolution in the light of human dignity and common good. Technology, Pope writes, is not inherently bad; rather, it is largely a human skill. But what is happening now is different in scale and depth: “Never has humanity been more independent,” the text says, describing the technologies that are now making decision-making processes, collective thinking, and group life more and more common.

From this point Robert Francis Prevost chose to start: from the growth of the power used through the systems that are increasing but not stable, and from the question that runs in the encyclical: What remains of human dignity, the protection of truth, work, social justice, and peace when decisions are transferred to algorithmic logic?

Weapons Destruction Technology

In the encyclical there is a word that becomes the key to interpreting all the events: “disarmament technology.” This definition is far from any attempt to limit the growth of artificial intelligence or to deny that it will change for the better. For Robert Francis Prevost, disarming AI means preventing it from becoming a dominant force in human existence.

For Leo XIV, policy is not only technology, but its organization is a function. AI, the pope writes, is part of today’s global race to “the most efficient algorithm” and “the largest data center,” where competitive advantage is also political. In this context, a few players focus on digital infrastructure, data, and computing power, which affect information, economics, and even democracy.

Disarmament means breaking this equation between technology and sovereignty. “As with any major technological change, AI tends to increase the power of those with wealth and access to information,” explains the pontiff.

In clear terms, the book argues that it is not enough to simply monitor technology: It must be abstracted from technology, transparent and open to criticism – that is, “inhabited” by many actors. Above all, AI must be prevented from becoming a tool of economic, political, or military control by a select few. This is not a moral metaphor: It is a call to avoid the idea of ​​competition so that it does not turn the damage that is distributed into a system of control.

Truth Within the system that determines reality

If technology focuses on power, one of the first results relates to how collective truth is created. The encyclical addresses the issue of disinformation, but in a more serious way because what is known, or events, is heavily filtered by systems that decide what to show and what to hide.

It is not just about fake news or fake news in different ways. The problem is that platforms and algorithms select information based on criteria for generating interest and action. In other words, what appears is not what is actually true, but what works best for triggering behavior. In this way, the truth does not disappear, but it is dependent on invisible processes that affect the thoughts, feelings, and decisions of groups without always being obvious.