In his encyclical on the challenges of artificial intelligence and digital technology, Pope Leo XIV offers a reflection that goes well beyond technical questions. His text Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”) is concerned above all with the human person, their capacity for judgement and their freedom in a world where technologies occupy a growing place. Among the themes addressed, the question of truth appears central. For the Pope, the digital revolution is not just a transformation of communication tools: it profoundly changes our relationship to information, knowledge and democratic life.
Leo XIV reminds us that the search for truth is a common good indispensable to any society. This statement takes on particular importance in a context marked by the multiplication of available information, the rapid circulation of content on social media and the development of generative artificial intelligence. While anyone can now produce, share or transform information in a matter of seconds, the distinction between true and false becomes harder. The Pope thus stresses that democracy itself rests on citizens’ ability to rely on verified facts in order to take part in public debate. When the search for truth is replaced by the pursuit of audience, emotion or visibility, the risk is one of disinformation, polarisation and the weakening of social bonds.
The encyclical also highlights the considerable power exercised by the major digital platforms. The algorithms that organise access to information are never completely neutral. By selecting certain content and making other content invisible, they take part in the construction of collective representations. Leo XIV is particularly concerned about the concentration of this power in the hands of a limited number of private actors able to steer the attention of billions of users. Faced with this situation, he calls for the development of a true “ecology of communication”, based on algorithm transparency, protection of personal data and support for quality journalism.
Finally, on education, the Pope affirms that every technology educates those who use it. This idea invites us to move beyond a purely instrumental view of digital technology. Screens, social media or artificial intelligence systems are not mere tools: they influence habits of thought, ways of relating and capacities for attention. The educational challenge therefore consists not only in teaching young people to use these technologies, but in enabling them to understand and question them. Education in media, information and artificial intelligence thus becomes an essential condition for the exercise of citizenship.
This concern is particularly strong with regard to children and teenagers. Leo XIV considers that public authorities have a responsibility to protect minors when platforms’ economic interests conflict with their well-being. He also stresses the importance of training young people to recognise manipulation, to preserve their dignity and to develop their critical thinking. This responsibility falls on the whole educational community: families, schools, associations and institutions.
Lastly, the encyclical draws attention to what it calls a “hygiene of attention”. In an environment saturated with digital demands, the risk is that the continuous flow of information replaces in-depth reflection, reading and discernment. To preserve inner freedom, the text values spaces of silence, study and dialogue that allow autonomous thought to develop.
Through this reflection, Leo XIV offers a humanist vision of digital technology. The aim is not to reject technological innovations, but to ensure that they remain at the service of the human person. The search for truth, education in critical thinking and the protection of the youngest then appear as essential conditions for building a digital society that respects dignity, social justice and the common good.
S.B.
