New Humanity Participates in Side Event on Magnifica Humanitas
At the Palais des Nations in Geneva, a side event in light of the 63rd Session of the Human Rights Council was organized around Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas”. The encyclical, Pope Leo XIV’s first, centers on safeguarding the dignity of the human person in the age of AI. The event was organized by Caritas Internationalis, Pax Christi International, Associazione Comunità Papa Giovanni XXIII, and the Jesuit Refugee Service.
Entitled, “Magnifica Humanitas: integral human development and the value of human rights in the age of artificial intelligence”, the purpose of the event was to explore how the Pope’s encyclical can inform and guide the Human Rights Council, human rights in general, and AI governance.
The event began with a keynote address delivered by Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, who introduced the encyclical to those in attendance. This was followed by a panel discussion with experts in the fields of technology and human dignity, who each shared, thorough their own perspectives, what the encyclical concretely signifies for their day-to-day work.
Jorge Dias Ferreira, was in attendance on behalf of New Humanity, and contributed to the discussion by posing a question to the panel:
“During the presentation of the encyclical ‘Magnifica Humanitas’ at the Vatican in the presence of Pope Leo XIV, Mr. Christopher Olah—co-founder of Anthropic—stated: ‘We continue to discover mysterious, even unsettling things. We are detecting structures that reflect findings in human neuroscience. We are finding evidence of the capacity for introspection!’
The dizzying pace of advancement and the progress made in this field have turned it into an issue that—by their own admission—may eventually slip out of the control of the very people who are creating it.
My question is this: Currently, the main actors promoting and developing artificial intelligence are private companies, not governments. These entities are not members of international organizations and are therefore not required to account for their actions. How is [the International Telecommunication Union] working with these key players to promote the regulation of AI use, as Pope Leo XIV so aptly advocates?”
In response, two panelists highlighted the significant challenges involved in this process of dialogue and consultation with private-sector stakeholders, describing it as their current major challenge — noting that significant steps are being taken to foster collaboration so that regulation of all matters related to AI can become a reality.
The side event gave all involved the opportunity to reflect on how taking inspiration from the Pope’s encyclical, decision makers and people of goodwill, can build a different type of society: a “civilization of love” (Magnifica Humanitas), that places human dignity at the center of technological advancements.
📄 Read Magnifica Humanitas here
🔍 Read more about Pope Leo XIV’s official speech at UNESCO, drawing on Magnifica Humanitas, here
📌 Get a quick summary of Pope Leo XIV’s speech at UNESCO here