A member of our Society, Ágnes Tahyné Kovács, convened a roundtable discussion entitled “AI and Care for Creation” on the occasion of the publication of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, at Pázmány Péter Catholic University (PPCU) in Budapest.
Following the Holy Father’s call for a transdisciplinary approach, the roundtable guests came from several academic fields (theology, military science, law, and bioethics).
The participants agreed that Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical is a hymn of hope, affirming that the greatness of humanity is realized in God, and thus constitutes a global call to build together. AI cannot be compared to the human intellect, because it lacks a soul, a moral sense, and free will.
In addition to calculating and reducing the environmental footprint of applications, the use of artificial intelligence has opened a new path for addressing the planet’s triple environmental crisis (loss of biodiversity, climate crisis, and severe pollution). As part of the legacy of Pope Francis’s call for ecological conversion, the encyclical also assigns a prominent role to care for creation, the connection between sustainability and poverty, the question of solidarity, and the protection of the environment and natural resources.
The role of AI in the use of military force was examined in the light of the social teaching of the Catholic Church, highlighting that the Pope gave particular emphasis to the topic by dedicating an entire chapter to the “disarmament” of AI. Regarding the social divisions arising from the use of AI, they concluded that we bear enormous responsibility to encourage everyone toward human-centered use.