AI and Human Dignity

Based on the Vatican’s 2025 document “Antiqua et Nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence”

The Divine Gift of Intelligence

Human intelligence is fundamentally different from artificial intelligence—not merely in degree, but in kind (Antiqua et Nova ¶12). This distinction rests on the divine gift of reason that marks humanity’s creation “in the image of God” (Genesis 1:27; CCC §1704), what theology calls the imago Dei. The Vatican document emphasizes that human intelligence “cannot be reduced to material or biological processes” but emerges from the spiritual soul directly created by God (Antiqua et Nova ¶14).

// Human intelligence transcends mere computation
interface HumanIntelligence {
  // Core computational abilities (shared with AI)
  computation: {
    pattern_recognition: boolean;
    data_processing: boolean;
    logical_inference: boolean;
  };
  
  // Divine gifts unique to humans
  soul: {
    moral_agency: Conscience;
    free_will: Freedom;
    self_transcendence: SpiritualCapacity;
  };
  
  // Embodied experience (see Incarnation)
  incarnate: {
    emotions: EmotionalIntelligence;
    empathy: CompassionateUnderstanding;
    lived_experience: BodySoulUnity;
  };

  // Relational dimension (reflects Trinity)
  communion: {
    love: AgapeCapacity;
    prayer: DivineRelationship;
    community: InterpersonalBonds;
  };
}

// AI capabilities are fundamentally limited
class ArtificialIntelligence {
  // AI can only simulate, never possess
  readonly limitations = {
    has_soul: false,
    has_moral_agency: false,
    has_consciousness: false,
    has_free_will: false,
    can_love: false,
    can_pray: false
  };
  
  // AI is always a tool, never a person
  constructor(
    private purpose: "serve_human_dignity",
    private creators: Human[],
    private accountability: "always_human"
  ) {}
}

The Imago Dei: Why AI Cannot Replace Humans

AI can never possess human dignity or replace human persons because dignity flows from the imago Dei—the image of God impressed upon every human soul at conception (CCC §1700). The Vatican teaches that “AI systems, no matter how sophisticated, remain tools created by humans and lack the intrinsic dignity that comes from being made in God’s image” (Antiqua et Nova ¶17). This theological truth has profound implications: while AI may simulate human behaviors, it lacks the spiritual soul that grounds moral agency, freedom, and the capacity for communion with God and others (Antiqua et Nova ¶18).

Wisdom of the Heart vs Algorithmic Processing

“Wisdom of the heart” integrates reason, emotion, and spiritual discernment in ways that transcend AI’s statistical inference (Pope Francis, G7 Address, June 14, 2024). Pope Francis insists that this uniquely human capacity—rooted in the embodied unity of body and soul—enables us to “look beyond the surface and discern the deeper meaning of reality.” While AI processes data through pattern recognition and probability calculations, human wisdom emerges from lived experience, moral conscience, and openness to transcendence (Antiqua et Nova ¶21).

// Human wisdom integrates multiple dimensions
class WisdomOfTheHeart {
  private experience: LivedExperience;
  private conscience: MoralDiscernment;
  private compassion: Empathy;
  private faith: SpiritualInsight;
  
  makeDecision(situation: ComplexSituation): Decision {
    // Human decision-making transcends calculation
    const rational = this.analyzeLogically(situation);
    const emotional = this.feelEmpathetically(situation);
    const moral = this.conscience.evaluate(situation);
    const spiritual = this.faith.discern(situation);
    
    // Integration happens at the level of the person
    return this.integrate({
      rational,
      emotional,
      moral,
      spiritual,
      // Unique human capacity: self-transcendence
      transcendent: this.considerEternal(situation)
    });
  }
  
  // Humans can act against self-interest for love
  sacrifice(for_other: Person): Act {
    return new Act({
      motivation: Love.AGAPE,
      freedom: true,
      merit: infinite_value
    });
  }
}

// AI operates through pattern matching
class AlgorithmicProcessor {
  private model: StatisticalModel;
  private data: Dataset;
  
  predict(input: Data): Output {
    // AI can only find patterns in data
    const patterns = this.model.findPatterns(this.data);
    const probability = this.calculateProbability(input, patterns);
    
    // No understanding, only correlation
    return {
      result: this.model.infer(probability),
      understanding: null,  // AI doesn't "understand"
      wisdom: null,        // AI lacks wisdom
      love: null,          // AI cannot love
      moral_value: null    // AI has no moral agency
    };
  }
  
  // AI cannot make truly free choices
  choose(options: Options[]): Selection {
    // Always deterministic, even with randomness
    return this.optimize(options, this.objective_function);
    // No freedom, no responsibility, no merit
  }
}

The Vatican’s Ethical Boundaries for AI

The Church demands that AI development and deployment must serve human dignity and the common good without exception (Antiqua et Nova ¶25). These ethical boundaries are not mere suggestions but moral imperatives rooted in natural law and divine revelation (CCC §1776). Pope Francis has specifically condemned autonomous weapons systems, declaring at the G7 summit: “No machine should have the power to choose whether to take a human life” (G7 Address, June 14, 2024).

// Vatican principles for ethical AI
interface EthicalAIFramework {
  // Fundamental principles
  principles: {
    human_dignity: "inviolable";
    common_good: "primary_goal";
    subsidiarity: "empower_local";
    solidarity: "global_cooperation";
  };
  
  // Absolute prohibitions
  forbidden: {
    autonomous_killing: "No machine should ever choose to take a human life";
    replace_relationships: "AI must not substitute human connections";
    moral_delegation: "Moral decisions require human agency";
    human_commodification: "Persons are ends, never means";
  };
  
  // Required safeguards
  safeguards: {
    transparency: "Algorithms must be explainable";
    accountability: "Humans remain responsible";
    privacy: "Personal data protection";
    justice: "Prevent bias and discrimination";
  };
}

// Implementing Vatican guidelines in code
class EthicalAISystem {
  constructor(
    private purpose: Purpose,
    private humanOversight: Human
  ) {
    this.validate();
  }
  
  private validate(): void {
    // Ensure system serves human dignity
    if (!this.purpose.serves(HumanDignity)) {
      throw new EthicalViolation("AI must serve human dignity");
    }
    
    // Require human in the loop for critical decisions
    if (this.purpose.involves(CriticalDecisions)) {
      this.requireHumanApproval = true;
    }
  }
  
  // Example: Healthcare AI with ethical constraints
  diagnosePatient(patient: Patient): Diagnosis {
    const analysis = this.analyzeSymptoms(patient);
    
    // AI provides analysis, not final judgment
    return {
      findings: analysis,
      confidence: this.calculateConfidence(analysis),
      requires: "physician_review",
      note: "AI assists but does not replace medical judgment",
      
      // Preserve human dignity in healthcare
      emphasis: {
        patient_autonomy: true,
        informed_consent: true,
        compassionate_care: "irreplaceable_by_AI"
      }
    };
  }
  
  // Example: Lethal autonomous weapons - absolutely forbidden
  targetSelection(targets: PotentialTarget[]): never {
    throw new Error(
      "Vatican teaching: 'No machine should ever choose to take a human life.' " +
      "Autonomous lethal weapons systems are intrinsically evil."
    );
  }
}

AI as Tool, Not Idol

AI must remain subordinated to human purpose and never become an object of worship or false hope (Antiqua et Nova ¶28). The Vatican warns against technological solutionism that attributes salvific power to AI, powers that belong to God alone. This modern form of idolatry occurs when we place ultimate trust in algorithms rather than divine providence, or when we seek from technology what only grace can provide (CCC §2113).

Practical Applications: Subsidiarity and Solidarity

Subsidiarity and solidarity must guide AI governance to ensure both local empowerment and global cooperation (CCC §1883-1885). Subsidiarity demands that decisions about AI implementation occur at the most local appropriate level, preserving personal autonomy and community self-determination. Solidarity requires that AI development serve all humanity, especially the poor and marginalized, preventing a digital divide that would further entrench inequality (Antiqua et Nova ¶31).

// Subsidiarity: Empower local decision-making
class SubsidiarityInAI {
  // Decisions should be made at the most local appropriate level
  determineDecisionLevel(issue: Issue): DecisionLevel {
    if (issue.affects === "individual") {
      return DecisionLevel.PERSONAL;  // Individual consent and control
    }
    if (issue.affects === "community") {
      return DecisionLevel.LOCAL;     // Community governance
    }
    if (issue.affects === "nation") {
      return DecisionLevel.NATIONAL;   // National regulation
    }
    if (issue.affects === "humanity") {
      return DecisionLevel.GLOBAL;     // International cooperation
    }
  }
  
  // Example: Personal data should be controlled by individuals
  dataGovernance(): Policy {
    return {
      principle: "Personal data belongs to the person",
      implementation: {
        consent: "explicit_and_informed",
        control: "user_can_delete",
        portability: "user_owns_data",
        transparency: "user_understands_usage"
      }
    };
  }
}

// Solidarity: Global cooperation for common good
class SolidarityInAI {
  // Ensure AI benefits all, especially the vulnerable
  distributeAIBenefits(): Distribution {
    return {
      priority: [
        "developing_nations",
        "marginalized_communities",
        "persons_with_disabilities",
        "elderly_populations"
      ],
      prevent: {
        digital_divide: "Ensure equal access",
        bias: "Protect minorities",
        exploitation: "Prevent abuse of vulnerable",
        monopolization: "Avoid concentration of power"
      }
    };
  }
  
  // Global cooperation example
  globalAIGovernance(): Framework {
    return {
      shared_principles: [
        "human_dignity",
        "common_good",
        "transparency",
        "accountability"
      ],
      cooperation_areas: [
        "safety_standards",
        "ethical_guidelines",
        "data_protection",
        "preventing_weaponization"
      ],
      enforcement: "international_collaboration"
    };
  }
}

Technology as Co-Creation with God

Technological advancement participates in humanity’s divine calling to be co-creators with God, cultivating and caring for creation (Genesis 2:15; CCC §307). The Vatican teaches that when properly oriented, AI development becomes an act of cooperation with divine providence, using human creativity to serve the common good (Antiqua et Nova ¶34). This co-creative vocation requires that technology respect the natural order, protect human dignity, and foster authentic human development rather than replacing or diminishing it.

// Technology as participation in divine creativity
interface CoCreation {
  // Genesis mandate: "cultivate and care" (Gen 2:15)
  divine_mandate: {
    cultivate: "Develop creation's potential";
    care: "Protect and sustain life";
    responsibility: "Stewardship, not domination";
  };
  
  // Proper orientation of AI development
  ai_development: {
    purpose: "Serve human flourishing";
    method: "Respect natural order";
    goal: "Common good of all humanity";
    
    // Examples of co-creative AI use
    positive_applications: {
      medicine: "Enhance healing and care";
      education: "Personalized learning for all";
      environment: "Monitor and protect creation";
      accessibility: "Include those with disabilities";
      agriculture: "Sustainable food production";
    };
    
    // Violations of co-creative principle
    violations: {
      exploitation: "Using AI to oppress";
      dehumanization: "Reducing persons to data";
      environmental_harm: "AI that damages creation";
      inequality: "Widening the digital divide";
    };
  };
}

// Living out co-creation in AI development
class ChristianAIDeveloper {
  private vocation: "Use gifts for God's glory and human good";
  
  develop(project: AIProject): Implementation {
    // Begin with prayer and discernment
    const purpose = this.discern(project);
    
    // Ensure alignment with Gospel values
    if (!this.alignsWithGospel(purpose)) {
      return this.decline("Conflicts with Christian values");
    }
    
    // Develop with ethical constraints
    return {
      code: this.implement(project),
      safeguards: this.addEthicalConstraints(project),
      documentation: this.explainEthicalChoices(project),
      
      // Dedicate work to God and humanity
      dedication: "Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam",
      commitment: "For the common good of all"
    };
  }
  
  // Example: AI for caring for creation
  environmentalMonitoring(): System {
    return {
      purpose: "Protect God's creation",
      capabilities: [
        "Track deforestation",
        "Monitor pollution",
        "Predict climate impacts",
        "Optimize resource use"
      ],
      ethicalConstraints: [
        "Respect indigenous rights",
        "Ensure data transparency",
        "Prioritize vulnerable ecosystems",
        "Serve all nations equally"
      ]
    };
  }
}

Key Takeaways

The Vatican’s “Antiqua et Nova” establishes that human intelligence possesses irreplaceable qualities that AI can never replicate: the spiritual soul, moral agency, consciousness, and the capacity for genuine love (Antiqua et Nova ¶12-14). These qualities flow from the imago Dei, the divine image impressed upon every human person at conception (CCC §1700), reflecting the relational nature of the Trinity itself. This foundational truth means AI will always remain a tool rather than a peer, a means rather than an end. The technology must serve human dignity and the common good while remaining under human control and accountability.

The Church’s ethical framework includes absolute prohibitions, most notably the ban on autonomous lethal weapons systems. Pope Francis declared unequivocally at the G7 summit: “No machine should ever choose to take a human life” (G7 Address, June 14, 2024). This prohibition flows from the broader principle that moral decisions require human agency and cannot be delegated to algorithms. The “wisdom of the heart” that Pope Francis champions integrates reason, emotion, moral discernment, and faith in ways that transcend AI’s purely computational approach.

Modern technological development faces the temptation of idolatry, treating AI as salvific or attributing to it powers that belong to God alone (Antiqua et Nova ¶28). Yet when properly oriented, AI development participates in humanity’s divine calling to be co-creators with God, cultivating and caring for creation (Genesis 2:15). This co-creative vocation demands that we develop AI within the framework of Catholic social teaching. Subsidiarity ensures decisions remain at the most local appropriate level, preserving human autonomy and community self-determination. Solidarity requires that AI benefits extend to all humanity, preventing a digital divide that would deepen existing inequalities (CCC §1883-1885).

Reflection

The challenge for Catholic developers and users of AI is to be both technically competent and spiritually grounded, using these tools to build a more just world while maintaining the transcendent dignity of every human person. As we stand at this intersection of ancient wisdom (antiqua) and new technology (nova), the Church calls us to embrace innovation that serves authentic human development. AI offers immense potential for good when it enhances medicine, education, environmental protection, and accessibility for those with disabilities. Yet these benefits must flow from a clear understanding: AI remains a powerful tool that can never substitute for the irreplaceable gifts of human intelligence, relationship, and divine communion.

The path forward requires vigilance against both technophobia and techno-utopianism. We neither reject AI wholesale nor surrender our humanity to algorithmic governance. Instead, we engage technology with the wisdom of our tradition, ensuring that every application respects the imago Dei and serves the common good. This means developers must embed ethical constraints from the design phase, users must maintain critical distance from AI recommendations, and society must preserve spaces for genuinely human encounter unmarked by digital mediation. The Vatican reminds us that “the ultimate criterion for evaluating any technology, including AI, must be whether it promotes integral human development and contributes to the common good of all humanity” (Antiqua et Nova ¶36).

Citations

1. Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Antiqua et Nova: Note on the Relationship Between Artificial Intelligence and Human Intelligence. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2025.

2. Francis, Pope. “Address to the G7 Summit on Artificial Intelligence, Energy, Africa and the Mediterranean.” Borgo Egnazia, Italy, June 14, 2024.

3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. §307, §355-361, §1700-1709, §1730-1731, §1776, §1883-1885, §2113.

4. Thomas Aquinas. Summa Theologica. I, Q.93 “The End or Term of the Production of Man.”

5. Pontifical Academy for Life. “Rome Call for AI Ethics.” February 28, 2020.

Further Reading

Church Documents

• John Paul II. Laborem Exercens (On Human Work). 1981.
• Benedict XVI. Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth). 2009. Especially Chapter 6 on technology.
• Francis. Laudato Si’ (On Care for Our Common Home). 2015. §102-136 on technology and ecology.

Theological Studies

• Rahner, Karl. Foundations of Christian Faith. New York: Crossroad, 1978. Chapter 2 on human personhood.
• Ratzinger, Joseph. Introduction to Christianity. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004. On the dignity of the human person.

“Technology is a precious resource for humanity when placed at the service of integral human development, but it can also be a threat when it is used to exploit, dominate, and destroy.” — Pope Francis