Pope Leo Warns AI Could Become a Modern ‘Tower of Babel’ in First Major Teaching on Technology

VATICAN CITY — Pope Leo XIV has issued one of the clearest papal warnings yet about artificial intelligence, arguing that the technology could deepen surveillance, weaken human dignity, and tempt societies into a modern version of the biblical Tower of Babel. In his new encyclical Magnifica humanitas, the pope says AI must remain a tool that serves humanity rather than a force that reshapes people into objects of control or efficiency.

The encyclical places AI within a broader moral and spiritual framework, emphasizing that rapid technological progress does not automatically produce human progress. Vatican reporting on the document says Pope Leo urges stronger protection of each person’s interior freedom while warning about the rise of “social control” enabled by mass data collection and algorithmic systems.[3] Catholic Virginian’s summary of the encyclical similarly quotes the pope warning of “social control made possible by the massive collection of data and use of algorithmic systems.”[1]

That language has drawn attention for its biblical imagery. The Tower of Babel story, found in the Book of Genesis, describes human ambition united by technology and language, but ending in confusion and division. By invoking that image, Pope Leo is framing AI not simply as a technical issue, but as a test of whether humanity can pursue innovation without losing humility, moral limits, and shared purpose. The Vatican’s account of the encyclical says the pope wants AI to be subordinated to human dignity and the common good, not treated as an autonomous authority.[3]

The warning comes at a moment when governments, tech companies, educators, and faith leaders are struggling to define the proper boundaries of artificial intelligence. Pope Leo’s message adds a distinctly moral voice to that debate, one that focuses less on productivity and more on personhood, privacy, and freedom. Ascension Press’ guide to the encyclical notes that the document treats privacy violations as one harmful use of AI, but places that concern within the wider danger of dehumanization and control.[2]

In practical terms, the pope’s concerns echo those raised by critics of high-volume data harvesting and predictive systems. Algorithms increasingly influence what people see, buy, read, and believe, while employers, schools, and governments use digital tools to sort, monitor, and evaluate behavior. The encyclical argues that such power becomes morally dangerous when it reduces individuals to patterns of data rather than unique persons with dignity and conscience.[1][3]

Pope Leo’s intervention is notable not only for its criticism but also for its tone. Rather than calling for the rejection of AI, the encyclical insists on discernment and restraint. The Vatican’s summary says the pope emphasizes the need to strengthen interior freedom, suggesting that human beings must remain capable of judgment, conscience, and responsibility even as machines become more capable.[3]

That approach places the Church in line with a growing international conversation about AI governance. Regulators in Europe, the United States, and elsewhere have been debating issues such as transparency, bias, deepfakes, and data protection. Pope Leo’s encyclical does not provide a technical regulatory blueprint, but it does offer a clear ethical standard: technological systems should be judged by whether they protect or diminish the human person.

The timing of the document also reflects the speed at which AI has moved from abstract promise to everyday infrastructure. Generative systems now write text, create images, assist with coding, summarize documents, and power recommendation engines. As these tools become more embedded in daily life, the pope’s warning suggests that the crucial question is no longer whether AI will shape society, but what kind of society will shape AI.

For Catholic leaders, the encyclical is likely to become a reference point in debates about labor, education, misinformation, and digital ethics. For policymakers, it reinforces a message increasingly heard outside religious circles as well: AI can produce genuine benefit, but only if human beings remain the final moral decision-makers. Pope Leo’s Tower of Babel comparison captures that concern in one image — the fear that humanity could build something extraordinary, only to discover it has lost sight of the human good it was meant to serve.