AI: an opportunity for multi-faith engagement

By Yvonne Aburrow

I was very excited to see that Pope Leo XIV's new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”) is about artificial intelligence (AI), together with a historic apology for the Church's role in slavery. This is a subject that is definitely something that people of faith should engage with and comment on. As a Tolkien fan, I was also delighted that he quoted Tolkien (in section 213).

The encyclical has been very well-received by most Pagans who have read it, as we share many of the perspectives on this subject that are explored in the document. So I was pleased to see an analysis of the encyclical on The Wild Hunt Pagan News, pointing out the opportunity for interfaith dialogue on the subject of AI which the encyclical could be used to facilitate:

What may be overlooked in the immediate reaction to Magnifica Humanitas is the opportunity it presents for broader interfaith dialogue. While the encyclical is unmistakably rooted in Catholic theology and social teaching, many of its central concerns will sound surprisingly familiar to Pagans, Wiccans, and other earth-centered spiritual communities. The document repeatedly warns against systems that reduce human beings to productivity, data, efficiency, or consumption. It criticizes concentrations of political, economic, and technological power that weaken communities and diminish human dignity. Many contemporary Pagan perspectives share those views, particularly traditions that emphasize a reverence for interconnectedness, reciprocity, balance, personal agency, and skepticism toward systems of domination and extraction.  The encyclical frames humanity as fundamentally relational; connected to community, labor, the natural world, and moral responsibility. That emphasis on interdependence echoes many animist, Wiccan, and Pagan perspectives that see life as woven into networks of relationship rather than opportunities for commodification.

I think it is also an opportunity for multi-faith engagement with the topic of artificial intelligence.

I was especially pleased to see this part of Magnifica Humanitas (section 27), which seems to be an invitation to interfaith dialogue:

Therefore, when the dignity of our brothers and sisters is violated, when politics fails to address the tragedies of humanity, when the economy turns against the person or science oversteps the limits of its competence, the Church — together with other Christian denominations and believers of other religions — must make her voice heard, not in order to dominate, but to promote communion.

This is made more explicit in section 223.

In rejecting the mindset of violence, interreligious dialogue plays a decisive role, because at the heart of the great spiritual paths lies a message of peace.