Artificial Intelligence and Human Nature
By: Christopher Reilly
In a recent address, Pope Leo XIV warned that, despite the many practical benefits of
artificial intelligence technology (AI), it “raises troubling questions on its possible
repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to
grasp and process reality.” Such a description goes well beyond the usual list of
concerns about potential social and psychological ills arising from misuse of AI.
Unfortunately, it is not always easy for Catholics to find good information about these
deeper misgivings.
One very helpful Vatican resource is the January 2025 document Antiqua et Nova,
which summarizes many of Pope Francis’ social concerns about AI but also provides a
readable yet scholarly explanation for the differences between human and machine
intelligence. When the Church describes the human person as a rational being, for
example, this human “reason” is much more than the calculations, predictive analytics,
and step-by-step decision-making that govern. Human intelligence, unlike machine
calculations, “includes abstraction, emotions, creativity, and the aesthetic, moral, and
religious sensibilities” (§11) as well as many kinds of expressions. “At the heart of the
Christian understanding of intelligence is the integration of truth into the moral and
spiritual life of the person, guiding his or her actions in light of God’s goodness and
truth. According to God’s plan, intelligence, in its fullest sense, also includes the
ability to savor what is true, good, and beautiful” (§28).
Human intelligence is oriented to seeking and knowing truth, for “human intelligence
is ultimately ‘God’s gift fashioned for the assimilation of truth’” (§21). This is not
merely factual truth about the material and social world. The human person
ultimately seeks truth in their relationship with God and decision to entrust
themselves to Him. “In this way, the human person becomes fully what he or she is
called to be” (§23).
Most importantly, “as society drifts away from a connection with the transcendent,
some are tempted to turn to AI in search of meaning or fulfillment—longings that can
only be truly satisfied in communion with God” (§104). This substitution for God is
the sin of idolatry, although “it is not AI that is ultimately deified and worshipped, but
humanity itself—which, in this way, becomes enslaved to its own work” (§105). I
consider this to be perhaps the most consequential lesson of Antiqua et Nova.
Catholics may need to continue developing resources like Antiqua et Nova to gain a
deeper understanding of the moral and spiritual concerns associated with AI. In our
development of this understanding, we may wish to avoid putting too much emphasis
on intelligence as the primary characteristic of human nature without also including a
full reference to humanity’s relational character (as in Pope St. John Paul II’s theology
of the body); our orientation to beatitude in a grace-filled, loving relationship with
God; and destiny through the incarnation and resurrection of Christ.
The contemporary, secular effort to define nature, including human nature, in terms
of information processing should also be countered with the very careful
understanding of human nature developed in the Church that integrates but also
distinguishes between the intellect, will, aggressively secular view of human nature,
not only the reduction of intelligence.
Christopher Reilly
Author of AI and Sin Get the book here!