Pope Leo XIV compares AI threat to biblical “Tower of Babel”

Pope Leo XIV has compared the risks posed by rapidly developing artificial intelligence to the biblical “Tower of Babel,” according to an encyclical published on May 25 and reported by The Wall Street Journal.

The document, titled “Magnifica Humanitas,” focuses on the dangers associated with fast technological progress and its impact on the future of human civilisation. The encyclical delivers a pointed caution directed at Silicon Valley leaders and society at large regarding the trajectory of civilisation amid the swift rise of new technologies.

In the encyclical, the pontiff uses two biblical metaphors to describe possible paths of societal development.

The first—“the construction of the Tower of Babel”—symbolises a centralised technological project driven by efficiency, profit, and uniformity, where humans become mere components of a system. The second—“the rebuilding of Jerusalem”—represents a model of collective creation based on solidarity and human cooperation.

According to the encyclical, Pope Leo XIV warns about the risks of digital power becoming concentrated in the hands of a narrow group. He also notes that the potential mass loss of jobs due to technological change could become a serious social challenge and even a “true social catastrophe.”

By Jeyhun Aghazada