The Idea of ‘Disarming Artificial Intelligence’: A Message from Magnifica Humanitas

On 25 May 2026, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, entitled ‘Magnifica humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. Pope Leo XIV’s in his speech urged the need to review the ethical, economic and social implications of artificial intelligence. He appeals for the safeguarding of humanity, promotion of truth, dignity of work, social justice, and peace. He makes a compelling argument on the need to ‘disarm artificial intelligence’ meaning that it needs to be freed from logics that transform it into an instrument of domination, exclusion, pride and marginalization. He draws parallels nuclear disarmament suggesting that just as nuclear power requires moral discernment and control. Artificial Intelligence must be directed towards the common good rather than autonomous weaponry and or biased algorithms that block access to healthcare, employment, leads to destruction caused due to wars. To disarm artificial intelligence is to mean it should safeguard human life no matter who it is, irrespective of any social identity or location.

In this direction the Pope insists that disarmament is not enough, nation states and heads of state must “build”, by urging all stakeholders, States, Companies and individuals. The Pope reenforces idea of “development of all”. By citing a biblical figure Nehemiah to illustrate that everyone must contribute brick by brick to build to create a more just coexistence; emphasising that true development must concern “every human being”. In the process this would require everyone included and ensuring no one is marginalized in the process by digital transformation. And on the other hand, a person should not be reduced to the idea of being a mere data or be reduced to hyper productivity. As every human must maintain the freedom and vocation that no machine can replace.

At this juncture, it becomes essential to refer to the feminist scholarship on disarmament, it begins with a foundational observation on disarmament. At the core of feminist debate on disarmament is the question about “whose lives are considered worth protecting” and by “what means”. Hence, with regard to AI and implications whether in social, economic and its use in war and militarism; the impact is not gender neutral.

The fact remains that the institutions that build, sell and deploy weapons of mass destruction are overwhelmingly male-dominated. The company’s that run AI and are setting algorithm are set by men taking those decisions. In the current geo-politics powerful nations act in their best interest maintain their position for power and economic dominance in the name of national interest. Feminist theorists such as Judith Ann Tickner and Cynthia Enloe call this very act as a masculine logic of security. While, international laws and conventions are flouted with no accountability to the global system of governance, whose lives are lost and whose are protected, who is accounted in and who is not.

As AI proliferates into all spheres of human life to the extent that it enslaves thinking and generates manufactured public opinion it is blurring the line between what is real and fake. The laws and institutions remain far behind the AI companies in terms of implementing laws on strict control and usage of AI. However, the human impacts are great, especially for populace that is not ready for a transition such as this, where the institutions are not ready to understand the implications of the misuse of AI. The entire debate on Data Centres has risen in terms of its environmental costs, displacement of communities in order to construct DCs are genuine concerns that are rising yet there are no popular discussion and debate over the same due to the corporatization of Media houses. As these corporates do have stakes in the rising business of AI and no one wants to miss the bandwagon of the neo-liberal paradigm of development in the 21st century. Thus, ‘the human in the loop’ is left outside depending upon the location, and other identity marker, as the control remains in the hands of the company that are investing in the technology.

The Pope in his concluding remarks stated that the path forward is to pursue civilizational love, the ultimate goal of these efforts is to build a future for the entire human family, rather than a privileged few. The Pope describes this idea of civilizational love as a concrete direction for history rather than a utopian idea. In order to achieve the same, the role of the Church becomes significant. The church ought to play a role of a source of wisdom, the wisdom concerning the human life and condition which is essential for guiding the new technologies that are emerging. He emphasizes that every person is a unique, free, and intelligent subject with a conscience capable of caring for our “common home”. He called to action for all people to become “artisans of hope” and to stay awake to the challenges and opportunities of the digital age.

However, Pope Leo XIV’s concluding remarks is best understood as a moral horizon – necessary, and genuinely humane concern – but remains insufficient as a concrete roadmap. Civilizational love without civilizational accountability is aspirational and makes the idea to disarm Artificial Intelligence weak.

The call to protect the entire humankind as a family has to be correlated by addressing the elephant in the system, which are the big tech corporates; their profit maximization remains the key drivers of economic growth for a privileged few. The project also requires the naming of who holds power in the digital age, how it is imbalanced and how it must be redistributed, and what enforceable structures and robust mechanisms are required to constrain technology’s march on earth. The Pope in Maginifica Humanitas has correctly identified the scale of the transition, the question that follows is whether love without laws and without equity and without genuine plurality of voices at the table, is enough to bend the arc of the digital age towards justice.

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Dr Judith Anne Lal, Assistant Professor, International Studies, Political Science and History, School of social sciences, Christ University

Magnifica humanitas:www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html

SeePope Leo’s address at the launch of Magnifica humanitas: https://x.com/CatholicSat/status/2058871518617059776

Brief video on Magnifica humanitas: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvU6NFe0z6k