In the second of several short, interdisciplinary essays for Religion & Liberty Online by Acton Institute research fellows on Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, Acton COO, Dr. Stephen Barrows, argues that the ability of artificial intelligence to bring economic value cannot displace essential features of humanity.
Dr. Barrows, an economist, goes on to explore the economic implications of what Pope Leo XIV has to say about the relationship among technological advancements, AI, work, and economic freedom.
“Like so many other technological achievements,” says Barrows, “artificial intelligence can do wonders for economic progress and human flourishing, but only as long as humanity remains at the center. This, at its heart, is the economic contribution of Magnifica Humanitas.”
Dr. Barrows goes on to say that “economists cannot be content using neoclassical analytical tools to show how AI is increasing productivity or whether labor market turnover is reallocating resources to their best use.”
Why not?
Barrows answers in his essay by applying Acton Institute’s core principles to the question of AI, work, employment, and technological disruption.
Dr. Stephen Barrows begins his essay as follows:
As Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical emphasizes, artificial intelligence’s ability to bring economic value cannot displace essential features of humanity, which bring a priceless kind of value to our world.
It has been a while since I awaited the publication of a papal document with as much eagerness as I have Magnifica Humanitas. Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical is itself magnificent, and I’m looking forward to prayerfully reading it over and over, not only as a guide to navigating the new world of artificial intelligence but also as an excellent historical overview and synopsis of the essential principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Those principles of social justice—human dignity, the common good, subsidiarity, the universal destination of goods, and solidarity—run through the entire document, including the section focused chiefly on economic matters.
Magnifica Humanitas engages the economic implications of AI most directly in paragraphs 148 through 164, where Leo XIV generously cites (as he does throughout the encyclical) the works of his predecessors. And here the pope recalls the Church’s teachings on the subjective dimension of work, the importance of removing barriers to employment and the corresponding harm of unemployment, the danger of instrumentalizing employees, and the important role of subsidiary institutions such as trade unions and other associations within the labor market. Work is vital for each of us to grow in our humanity, and that work does not merely entail the kind for which we get paid. Yes, market employment is essential for our families, but all forms of work are intended to draw us closer to God.
Yet it’s not just any kind of work that is necessary. Dignified work is needed for our growth as individuals and our contribution to society, and such work entails not only ensuring that the work itself is noble but also that employers not allow the need for efficiency to eclipse work’s sanctifying power and communitarian ends. Artificial intelligence has and will continue to both augment and displace workers as technological advancements have done throughout their history. This is the nature of change and an inevitable consequence of economic progress and points to why the principles of Catholic Social Teaching—especially solidarity and subsidiarity—are so important in discerning the prudent development, use, and application of AI in our world today.
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Read the full essay HERE for Dr. Barrows on “The Economics of Magnifica Humanitas.”
If you missed the first essay in this series, Dr. John C. Pinheiro’s “Freedom and Responsibility: Seven Takeaways from Magnifica Humanitas,” you can read it here.
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