Pope Leo XIV is warning of modern-day parallels between artificial intelligence (AI) and the cautionary biblical tale of the Tower of Babel,
Pope Leo outlined his worries about AI (including machine learning and robotics) in a papal “Magnifica Humanitas” entitled “On safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” The papal report was released in May.
Pope Leo outlines concerns about economic displacements (including lost jobs) and turning social systems and militaries over to AI and machines.
The Roman Catholic leader also drew potential parallels to the Biblical story of the Tower Babel.
The Old Testament account says ancient people of a singular, unified language sought to build a colossal city and tower in Babylon.
“And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech,” according to Genesis Chapter 11.
According to the Bible, the ancient people’s goal was to “build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name.”
Pieter Bruegel the Elder – The Tower of Babel
Wikimedia Commons / Google Art Project
But God worried that mankind would be unrestrained and confounded the people’s languages, giving them different dialects and languages.
The biblical story outlines why we speak in different languages.
There is also cautionary tale to the Tower of Babel, regarding human hubris and self exaltations.
Pope Leo sees some cautionary, potential similarities between AI and the Tower of Babel.“with its top in the heavens.”
“They sought to guarantee stability and power for themselves, and above all to “make a name” for themselves. It was an impressive feat: a single language, a single technology, a single direction. However, the project concealed a profound danger,” the Roman Catholic leader writes in his missive.
“It was a project conceived without reference to God, supported by a uniformity that eliminated diversity and that chose homogenization over communion. When a city is built on pride and the claim to self-sufficiency, communication breaks down, languages are confused and people no longer understand each other.”
“The result is not unity, but dispersion. Babel thus reveals the limits of any effort that, however grandiose, arises from self-affirmation, sacrifices human dignity for efficiency and aspires to reach heaven without God’s blessing,” the pope said.
Technology sectors and broader market (i.e. capitalist) economies see revolutionary promise with AI via innovation and productivity gains.
But there are worries about AI eliminating jobs and livelihoods and its warfare applications.
Pope Leo sees AI as a crossroads for humankind.
“Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together,” the Catholic pontiff writes.
“Each generation inherits the task of shaping its own era, of guiding history to become a place where the dignity of every person is safeguarded, justice is promoted and fraternity is made possible. Yet every era also runs the risk of creating an inhumane and more unjust world,” Pope Leo said.
The pope points to The Book of Nehemiah where Israelites worked together to rebuild Jerusalem after returning from Babylon.
“Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice. In the abstract, technology in and of itself is not a solution to humanity’s problems, just as it is not inherently evil. In practice, however, technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it,” the Pope continued. “Therefore, the primary choice is not between a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem.” Pope Leo said.
“We must, then, avoid the ‘Babel syndrome,’ namely the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance. The risk of dehumanization — of building a future that excludes God and reduces the other to a means — is an ancient and ever-new temptation that today takes on a technical guise.together in order to foster a peaceful, just and dignified life in community within today’s ‘cities.’”