A Religious Response to Magnifica Humanitas: Artificial Intelligence and the Prophetic Mission

Abstract

The accelerating development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has initiated a profound transformation in human self-understanding and moral reasoning. This article offers a religious response to the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas (MH), a critical ecclesial intervention addressing the perils of the technocratic paradigm.  Focused on the prophetic vocation of religious life, this study explores the significant religious notions, metaphorical nuances and deeper meaning of the encyclical through a fundamental choice between technocratic self-sufficiency and relational communion grounded in divine grace.  Within this framework, the study develops the concept of the ‘Babel syndrome’ as a critical hermeneutic for understanding the dehumanising tendencies of AI-driven cultures, particularly their reduction of persons to data, efficiency, and performance metrics. In response, the article retrieves the Nehemiah paradigm of shared responsibility, subsidiarity, and prayerful discernment as a constructive ecclesial model for engaging technological modernity. This work further proposes three dimensions of religious prophetic response, such as ecclesial conversion, digital mission, and ascetical ‘digital sobriety’ as essential practices for sustaining interior freedom and theological discernment in the digital age. Ultimately, the article contends that the encyclical calls religious communities to reimagine their mission as participation in the construction of a ‘civilisation of love,’ where technology is subordinated to human dignity and oriented toward communion, solidarity, and eschatological hope.