Artificial Intelligence (AI) is overwhelming us today! AI, as we all know, is about communication, information, data mining, and much more. It shapes the way we think and even determines our behavioural patterns and much more.
In May, Pope Leo XIV gave the world his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity): On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. In it, he makes a passionate plea for safeguarding humanity, the dignity of the human person, and the need and importance of promoting truth and freedom.
His message to the world was unequivocal and loud: "In this age of Artificial Intelligence, be human, stay human!"
Pope Leo cautions about the detrimental effects AI could have on humanity at large. He uses strong words, saying that too much AI power is concentrated in too few hands. He warned that a small group of firms now control vast amounts of data, computing power and digital infrastructure.
"When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities."
He warned that powerful groups could use AI to shape public opinion, influence democratic systems and steer economies for their own interests. He also criticised the global race for "ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets," arguing that technology should serve humanity rather than corporate or geopolitical dominance.
Pope Leo criticised the development of autonomous weapons and said it should never be acceptable for machines to make irreversible life-and-death decisions without human responsibility. "Artificial Intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death."
In his encyclical, he highlights "an ecology of communication." "Our first task is neither to demonise nor idolise technological tools, but to utilise them based on a fundamental principle, namely that truth is a common good and not the property of those with power or influence. We must therefore promote an ecology of communication."
A communication ecology approach comes closer to the reality of everyday life where people select new, traditional, and/or geo-ethnic media and interpersonal modes of communication from all of the options they have available to them.
For example, people are asked to think about all of the ways they go about gaining understanding or getting information about their community, their health, etc. and to tell us which ways are most important to them. In this way, their responses are in the context of their communication ecologies.
Pope Leo adds, "on the level of public policy, this entails establishing norms so that the decision-making behind content selection and its development becomes more transparent and protects personal data."
Pope Leo pays particular attention to journalism, saying, "regarding social and cultural aspects, this requires a strengthening of intermediary organisations, serious journalism and forums for debate, where reasoned argumentation and verification carry greater weight than immediate reaction." He also emphasises the role of families, schools and universities.
In highlighting the role and responsibility of communicators today, Pope Leo is particularly severe about "Church communications." "Christian communities, too, are called to commit themselves to transparency in communication and to the honest pursuit of facts. Sadly, this has not always been the case."
"We have witnessed with shame the emergence of painful truths concerning even members of the Church and ecclesial realities. In particular, some journalists, driven by a passion for truth, have played a crucial role in bringing injustices and abuses to light."
"To them, I wish to repeat the words that Pope Francis used in speaking to journalists: 'I also thank you for what you tell us about what goes wrong in the Church, for helping us not to sweep it under the carpet, and for the voice you have given to the victims of abuse.'"
"Yet vigilance and transparency remain first and foremost a grave responsibility for the Church herself, and we must not wait for others to compel us to confront uncomfortable truths about ourselves."
Strong, direct words which should shake any Christian communicator out of one's complacency and comfort zone!
Everything that Pope Leo speaks about in Magnifica Humanitas applies to us in India: both to the Church and the country. We have reached an abysmally low level of dehumanisation in the country; democracy is in the doldrums. We have a long way to go in critical issues of transparency, truth and freedom.
He wants the Church to do a serious examination of conscience. He says that the five principles (common good, the universal destination of goods, subsidiarity, solidarity, social justice) of the social doctrine should be applied not only to society, but also to the Church; living out this justice calls for "purifying ecclesial relationships and structures from distortions that give rise to inequality, lack of transparency and abuse of power."
This means listening to the "victims of spiritual, economic, institutional, sexual and power-based abuse, as well as abuses of conscience." This examen "is an integral part of a journey toward justice, which includes acknowledging the harm done, just reparation and taking steps to prevent it from happening again."
Let's look at the plain truth: The V-Dem Institute at Sweden's University of Gothenburg, in its "Democracy Report 2026," says that "India's autocratization is a slow but systematic dismantling of democratic institutions. The ruling anti-pluralist, Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Prime Minister Modi's derailing of democracy include deteriorations in freedom of expression and independence of the media, harassment of journalists critical of the government, and attacks on civil society and the opposition. India is classified as an electoral autocracy since 2017."
India continues to be named in the top 10 autocratising countries in the last 10 years; it is placed 105th in the Liberal Democracy Index (LDI). What a terrible disgrace!
India ranks 157 out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), keeping the country in the "very serious" category for journalism and media freedom.
In the context of the reality around us and the challenge meted out to Catholic communicators by Pope Leo, some of the questions one needs to ask today include: Are we ready to put humanity and the dignity of every person at the centre of our communications? Are we ready to take a visible and vocal stand for transparency, truth and freedom? Are we free enough to address the injustices and the dehumanising processes which exist today? Do we have the prophetic courage to critique the Church when needed? In this AI age, are we prepared to engage in journalism without compromise?
As possible answers to the above, Pope Leo clearly indicates five paths of responsibility for the way ahead and to build a civilization of love; they are: (i) disarming words by speaking the truth; (ii) building peace through justice; (iii) adopting the perspective of victims by taking a stand, because there are conflicts in which "it is unjust to remain neutral"; (iv) cultivating "a healthy realism" that seeks practicable paths of peace through deeds, not only words; and (v) reviving dialogue.
Towards the end, he gives the world an antidote to "stay human": "As we look to the future, I would like to recall the image of Nehemiah whom we chose as our companion and guide at the outset. Nehemiah heard the cry of a devastated city, brought that pain to prayer, discerned before God, asked for help, received permission to return, organised the work, confronted internal and external resistance and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem with the assistance of the people, brick by brick.
"In this era of digital transformation, I see in him a striking parable of our own vocation, which is not to be passive spectators of social and cultural fractures, nor mere commentators on what is crumbling, but men and women prepared to enter the construction sites of history — research laboratories, technology companies, schools, the media, institutions and local communities — to rebuild what has collapsed and protect what is threatened."
"Like Nehemiah, we too are called to unite listening and courage, prayer and responsibility, so that, even when a technocratic mentality or partisan interests seem to prevail, the human city may become a more fitting place to live."
A tall order indeed! Catholic communicators with spine will certainly heed the words of Pope Leo in becoming Nehemiahs today, by ensuring that a meaningful and relevant ecology of communications is always in the context of humanity, dignity, truth, freedom and above all, of journalism without compromise!
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*Human rights, justice, reconciliation and peace activist, writer & trainer. This article was written for the 31st National Convention of Christian Journalists, Bangaluru, 19-20 September 2026. It was published in a book, 'Humanity, Dignity and Truth: Journalism without compromise in the Age of AI', the theme of the Convention
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