When Machines Think, What Must Humans Remember?
LCMC Leads a Reflection on Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas
By Ms. Teresia Muia
The Loyola Centre for Media and Communication (LCMC) has been at the forefront of digital transformation, accompanying organizations, institutions, religious communities, and individuals in understanding, adopting, and optimizing emerging technologies. Through training programs, workshops, and practical engagements, LCMC has consistently sought to ensure that technological innovation serves authentic human development and effective communication.
As Artificial Intelligence continues to reshape workplaces, education, media, governance, and everyday life, important questions are emerging about ethics, accountability, and the place of the human person in an increasingly automated world. While AI presents immense opportunities for innovation and productivity, it also raises profound concerns about human dignity, social justice, employment, privacy, and decision-making.
It is against this backdrop that Pope Leo XIV’s landmark encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), published on 25 May 2026, offers a timely and compelling reflection on the ethical and social implications of Artificial Intelligence. The document extends the Church’s social teaching into the digital age, reminding us that technology is never neutral but always reflects the values, intentions, and priorities of those who create and use it.
At the heart of the encyclical is a call to place the human person at the center of technological development. Pope Leo XIV challenges society to ensure that AI serves the common good, protects human dignity, promotes justice, and remains accountable to humanity. His proposal of “Algorethics” invites a broader conversation on how technological progress can be guided by ethical principles rather than purely economic or political interests.
Recognizing the importance of this conversation, LCMC is convening an online webinar to explore the key insights of Magnifica Humanitas from a communication perspective. The session will provide participants with an opportunity to engage critically with the opportunities and challenges presented by AI while reflecting on what it means to remain truly human in a rapidly changing digital world.
We warmly invite religious leaders, formators, seminarians, educators, communication professionals, and all people of goodwill to join this important conversation as we reflect together on one of the defining questions of our age: When machines think, what must humans remember?