Pope Leo XIV Warns AI Risks Creating New Tower of Babel in First Encyclical

Pope Leo XIV warns that artificial intelligence risks repeating the hubris of the Tower of Babel as the Holy See issues its first major teaching on digital technology. The Vatican challenges the global community to prioritize human dignity over algorithmic efficiency and demands an immediate halt to the development of lethal autonomous weapons.

The Holy See released the encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, on May 25, 2026. Pope Leo XIV signed the document on May 15 to mark the 135th anniversary of Rerum Novarum, the foundational 1891 text on labor and capital. The new document addressed the rapid integration of artificial intelligence into human life and its broader impact on the dignity of the person.

The text described the current technological era as a decisive moment for human civilization. “Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together,” the Pope wrote. He emphasized that the grandeur of the human person found its expression in the “Way, the Truth and the Life” rather than in mechanical productivity.

The document condemned the development of lethal autonomous weapons under a section labeled “Disarm AI.” The Vatican argued against software systems that might reduce human worth to productivity metrics or purely economic output. Leo XIV urged governments and developers to create robust global regulations that prioritized the common good over private profit.

The Vatican presented the encyclical at an event that featured testimony from Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah. The presence of a frontier AI developer illustrated the Church’s strategy of direct engagement with the technology sector. The teaching built upon the Rome Call for AI Ethics, an initiative launched in 2020 with partners including Microsoft and IBM.

The imagery of the Tower of Babel functioned as a reference to ancient biblical hubris. The biblical narrative described a period where human ambition led to divine intervention and the confusion of languages. Pope Leo XIV used the symbol to suggest that unchecked AI development risked excluding the divine and undermining social solidarity.

The stance mirrored historical Vatican positions on transformative weapons. Previous popes condemned the use of nuclear weapons as a violation of moral law. Pope Francis previously declared that both the possession and use of nuclear arms were immoral. Leo XIV extended that level of moral scrutiny to autonomous systems and technologies that could automate the devaluation of human life.

Responses from the technology sector followed the publication. Some Silicon Valley executives expressed concern that stringent global regulation might slow the pace of software innovation. Privacy advocates and ethicists supported the focus on human rights. Critics noted that heavy Western regulation could give an advantage to authoritarian regimes with fewer ethical constraints. The Holy See maintained that human dignity must remain the central focus of all technological progress.

Chain Street’s Take

Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas functions as a strategic entry into the global regulatory debate. By invoking the Tower of Babel while hosting leaders from firms like Anthropic, the Vatican attempts to secure a seat at the table where the future of frontier models is decided. The Church is positioning itself as a global entity capable of acting as a moral counterweight to both state-controlled AI and unchecked corporate interests. The encyclical moves the conversation away from technical safety and toward the survival of human agency in a machine-dominated economy.