In his inaugural homily to the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV said that he had chosen his name partly because of the previous Leo who “addressed social questions in the context of the first great industrial revolution.”
The Church today, he says, must offer her social teaching as a response to “another industrial revolution and to developments made in the fields of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice, and labour.”
Fr Phillip Larrey, longtime voice on AI ethics and the chair of Humanity 2.0, welcomed the Pope’s remarks. In a statement to The Irish Catholic, he said “I do think that Pope Leo is aware of the current situation just as Pope Leo XIII was aware of the transformative situation of his own time.”
While Fr Larrey was hesitant to endorse the idea of an update to Rerum Novarum, he was encouraged by the Pope’s intention to seriously engage with the ethical dimensions of the digital revolution.
“I’m not sure if we will see a Rerum Novarum Duo coming, because that document was an outline of the social doctrine of the Church, which remains the same now as when it was written,” he said. “But I do foresee an increasing interest in the implications of the new digital revolution that is upon us now, and will become more and more impactful in the immediate future.”
“It is great to see that the Pope himself is taking the lead on what AI means for humanity and society in general. In the absence of a universal declaration on ethical and moral guidelines of AI and new technology, the voice of the Pontiff will ring loud and clear.”
At the same time, Fr Larrey has previously warned of the dangers posed by unchecked AI — particularly technologies that simulate emotional intimacy or replace human relationships. In earlier remarks, he cautioned that “machines don’t have access to wisdom… to the heart,” and that over-reliance on AI could risk eroding our capacity for empathy, conscience, and communion — “the wisdom of the heart,” as Pope Francis put it.
Read more of Fr Larrey’s reflection on AI next week.
