On May 2025, as he made one year in office, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical document of his papacy titled ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ (wonderful humanity) with some chapters sparking reactions and counter-reactions across the globe.
From Pope Paul II, every Pontiff has a mandate to guide the Catholic church and the entire world through a theological document addressing social, environmental, economic, global shocks, health, gender, multilateral and geopolitical issues of that particular given time and generation beyond the spiritual duties.
The Magnifica Humanitas is the new unveiled social doctrine of the church (http:// www.vatican.va/content/leoxiv/encyclinicals/ documents/20260515-magnificahumanitas. htm), which is “a legacy of wisdom, where people find principles for thoughts, criteria for discernment and judgement of concrete guidelines for action.”
Unlike, ‘Laudato Si’ by Pope Francis, the ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ by Pope Leo XIV is unequivocally shaking walls of the AI companies and tech users across the globe regardless of faith, beliefs, age group, race, social status and gender.
The main area of contention in Pope Leo’s theological document roots in Chapter 3, elaborating a pontific stand on technology and dominance, particularly pointing out the grandeur of humanity in light of the promise of Artificial Intelligence.
Even Pope Leo himself, during a press release of Magnifica Humanitas, was aware the table he was shaking had an expensive banquette on it, as he stated; I quote: “Artificial Intelligence needs to be disarmed, the word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen, because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciousness and indicating a path forward for humanity.”
Quote and quote “Artificial intelligence touches many areas of our lives and affects decisions that shape human co-existence and dramatically. It is also changing how war is waged.”
Without fear of contradiction, the first Pontiff from America is unequivocally cautioning the world about the increasing dominance of Artificial intelligent in shaping human matters.
Pope Leo points out three aspects in chapter 3 visa vie personal use: (i) the ease with which results are obtained; (ii) the impression of the object; (iii) the simulation of human communication, which have rapidly made AI opaque and a controller of human response and behaviour change.
Pope Leo is enlightening the world on a technocratic paradigm shift, shaping the present and the future of humanity. He said this must equally concern the youth because they are the biggest stakeholders of the future.
Lest we forget, for the first time in the history of humanity, the world’s majority population is below the age of 24 years, of which the African continent is taking the lead of the youngest demographic statistics.
Therefore, Leo’s guidance about Artificial Intelligence is on time, on schedule and on purpose for Africa’s younger generation Z, millennial, Alpha and Beta. Pope Leo is particularly awakening the conscious of the Gen Zs as a key population segment driving the technology use of Artificial Intelligence, cognitive science, nanotechnology robotics and biotechnology, expanding the technocratic paradigm.
It’s projected that globally, around 73 per cent of youths are frequently using Artificial Intelligence for homework help, exams, research and innovations.
Unprecedentedly, more than 70 per cent of African youths are increasingly getting addicted to using generative AI tools in their studies and day to day life experiences, thereby making Pope Leo’s message justifiable and valid.
Pope Leo is guiding our youth on the untamed excessive use of already made answers, which is increasingly weakening personal creativity and judgment as a result of over dependency.
I have, on countless occasions, encountered the overwhelming dependency on ‘AI’ in universities where I lecture. I found out that almost 80 per cent of my student’s answers are from ‘AI chat box’ and sadly the excessive use and over-dependency are breeding intellectual laziness.
One may argue that AI is enabling many youths to reach horizons. However, none of the youths examines their genuine potential, with AI’s long-term effects on human creativity, dignity, freedom and co-existence expected to be painful.
Just like Pope Leo, I am equally worried that society will soon end up with a majority of quack doctors, journalists, administrators, lawyers, teachers, entrepreneurs and engineers, among other professions.
AI is directly influencing the management of public affairs, communication and decision-making processes in boardrooms, thus incubating exclusion, manipulation and inequalities among the youth.
AI is robbing our younger people of genuine human connection, infringing on opportunities, status and freedom, and ultimately affecting human lives. AI is systematically eviscerating entry jobs for fresh graduates, hence exposing our youth to the mercy of the market and unemployment.
Pope Leo XIV is guiding our youths that ‘AI’ is merely imitating the functions of human intelligence from language, behaviour to analytical skills and is entirely tied to data processing, thereby illuminating that ‘AI’ cannot equate human intelligence.
Robert Francis Prevost’s ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ clearly elaborates how AI is contributing to tons of carbon dioxide gas emissions, causing horrible environmental degradations and threatening humanity’s health co-existence.
The Pope stresses out the urgent need to create sustainable solutions that reduce these environmental impacts to protect, preserve and restore the ‘Planet’ – the only home of our youth and future generations.
Pope Leo is calling upon our African youths to be more vigilant about ‘AI’s risks to humanity, and encourages us to use it responsibly and institute ‘AI’ governance tenets to avoid getting lost into transhumanism and post-humanism grand scheme agendas.
African governments should benchmark on Japan, Singapore and the Nordic states that have taken robust regulatory measures towards ‘AI’ before it eventually makes African youth the first victims of man’s most successful innovation.
The writer is a sustainable development analyst.
robertinez07@aol.com