While technological development has brought, and continues to bring, “significant benefits to humanity, especially in the fields of medicine and health,” to achieve “authentic progress,” it is necessary that “human dignity and the common good continue to be solid priorities for all.”
Pope Leo XIV emphasized this in his message to the participants of the International Congress organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life, dedicated to the theme “Artificial Intelligence and Medicine: The Challenge of Human Dignity,” held in Rome on November 10 – 12.
In the text, the Pontiff draws attention to the “destructive potential of technology” and “medical research when placed at the service of anti-human ideologies,” urging us to consider the errors of the past as a warning for the future.
Pope Leo XIV warns of the risks associated with technological progress that “profoundly influence our way of thinking, altering our understanding of situations and our perception of ourselves and others.” The tools we have today—he observes—are even more powerful and, if used improperly, can have devastating effects on the lives of individuals and populations. However, he also recognizes the positive implications of technology when truly placed “at the service of the human person.”