Pope Leo’s first message for the World Day of Social Communications

In his first message marking the World  Day of Social Communications, Pope Leo XIV chooses to start his media pontificate from the heart of one of the greatest battles of our time, namely the relationship between human beings and artificial intelligence (AI). The message is not a technical document as much as it is a deeply human manifesto that defends human image and voice in a world being digitally reshaped at a breathtaking speed.

In his message published on January 25, marking the 60th World Day of Social Communications, the  Pope begins with an idea that may seem axiomatic yet it is fundamental, namely the image and the voice are signs of human presence and unique identity. They are neither “files” nor “data” that can be copied or amended. When the real face is erased behind synthetic images, or when the human voice is swapped by artificial imitations, we do not lose something marginal, but rather we lose part of the image of human person as an existential being called for encounters and launching relationships rather than to fade away into one’s screen.

 This year’s message addresses a growing and familiar danger, namely outsourcing thinking to algorithms. The more we rely on AI in summarizing news, formulating texts, and suggesting opinions, the more our own capacity for understanding, analysis, and discernment weakens. The Pope does not reject AI as a tool, but he warns against allowing it to replace human mind, conscience, and human experience,  which turns us into passive consumers of ready-made ideas.

What I find particularly striking is his warning about “affectionate virtual” relationships, namely chatbots programmed that seem close, and understanding especially to those who are most vulnerable or lonely. The question that arises in this regard is, “is this technology “impressive”? or rather who is shaping our emotions and decisions when we allow a machine to control relationships in our lives and to engineer our inner feelings?

The message continues to critique the hidden bias embedded in AI systems and their ability to reproduce stereotypes and social injustice,  or rather to control collective memory and the way history itself is related in the presence  of a control conducted by limited number of giant companies on platforms and algorithms. Yet, the Pope does not call for rejecting progress or falling into self-inflicted fear, but  instead he proposes a conditional alliance based on three pillars, namely responsibility, cooperation, and education.

Responsibility is this regard is comprehensive, whereby platforms must place the common good above blind profit; developers must be transparent in their designs; lawmakers must establish frameworks that protect human dignity; and the media must remain faithful to its vocation of seeking truth, not merely showing “engagement.”

My point of view is that the strength of Pope Leo XIV’s first message lies in how it connects digital education and education with freedom and conscience. The elimination of digital illiteracy is no longer a luxury, but rather a prerequisite for safeguarding human dignity: to understand how algorithms work, learn how to protect our faces and voices from manipulation and exploitation, and to preserve our right to think, to choose, to make mistakes, and to learn for ourselves.

The question that the message poses to all of us is: Will we allow the machine to speak in lieu of us, or will we use it as a tool that remains in the service of a human beings who maintain their faces, their voices, their freedoms, and their genuine relationships?