Magnifica Humanitas

**One of the Spectator's Books of the Year** Pope Leo XIV's opening statement to the world, offering a bold and urgent vision of what it means to be human in modern times and the coming age of artificial intelligence. ‘The strongest way of looking at AI I've seen’ RORY STEWART ‘A remarkable case for placing moral concerns at the centre of any discussion of AI’ THE NEW YORKER ‘Beautifully written, hugely significant, speaks truth to power’ ALASTAIR CAMPBELL AI is transforming work, creativity, communication, politics and the fabric of our daily lives. Yet the deepest questions it raises are moral, not technological: What does it mean to be human? What is progress for? And what must never be surrendered to the machine? In his landmark first encyclical, Pope Leo XIV draws on the rich tradition of Catholic social teaching to explore the questions at the heart of the AI revolution. Calling for a future in which innovation serves human dignity rather than diminishes it, he offers a compelling vision for technology in service of humanity. Delivered at the outset of what many consider to be the next technological revolution, this landmark text addresses contemporary challenge of safeguarding our humanity in the dawning era of Artificial Intelligence at the beginning of his papacy. Neither fearful nor naïve, this is a clear-eyed invitation to think more deeply about the world we are building - and the human beings we are becoming.