Dear Colleagues and Students,

I write to you today following the release of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), published on Monday. This letter, the first encyclical of Pope Leo’s papacy, focuses on human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.

The encyclical is substantial (more than 40,000 words), and scholars and experts will no doubt spend weeks carefully studying its implications. I, too, will be reading it closely, reflecting on how the Holy Father’s words resonate with our mission at Aquinas College. In the meantime, I wanted to share several excerpts from the encyclical that stood out to me when I first skimmed it.

AI Is On Our Mind, With Good Reason
The timing of the Pope’s words could not be more relevant. Earlier this month, our Center for Teaching Excellence hosted a day-long faculty and staff in-service about AI. We also launched new academic programs, including an AI major. On and off campus, related conversations have revealed a wide range of reactions and perspectives.

Some campus conversations have been energized by curiosity and possibility, marked by hopes for tools that support research, innovation and workload management. Indeed, we recognize the genuine good AI technology can offer. It is being applied in labs to accelerate scientific discovery. It is helping radiologists detect tumors earlier and improve treatment outcomes. It is also expanding accessibility for people with disabilities, predicting pandemics and severe weather, and supporting new approaches to community building and problem-solving.

At the same time, many students, alumni, and others in our community have raised serious concerns about the broader effects of AI. Those concerns range from environmental impact and mental health to questions about employment, creativity, critical thinking, and other deeply human capacities. There are also legitimate worries about privacy, safety, and the unequal ways new technologies can affect marginalized communities. These are not abstract or trivial issues. They deserve intentional and careful engagement.

One thing is certain: AI is here, and its growing presence calls for more than a simple embrace or rejection. It demands a response grounded in ethics, wisdom, and discernment. As Pope Leo writes:

“The true alternative is not between enthusiasm and fear, but between two paths of development: a progress that serves individuals and peoples, or a progress that subjects them to the mentality of power.” 

AI Is Not Just a Tool

AI is, like all technology, a tool. But as Pope Leo cautions, it is not merely a tool:

“When it becomes the standard by which everything is judged, it begins to dictate what matters and what can be discarded, reducing creation to an object of exploitation and human beings to mere cogs in a system driven toward ever greater efficiency.”

He goes on to write:

“...ethical discernment cannot be limited to asking whether we are using a system for good or bad purposes; it must also examine how that system is designed and what vision of the human person and society is embedded in the data and models that guide it.”

As a community grounded in the liberal arts and Catholic and Dominican tradition, Aquinas College is uniquely positioned for exactly this kind of complexity.

The pressing concerns are precisely how, at Aquinas, as we introduce our AI major and other applications across our curriculum, we will infuse coursework, utilization and conversations with more than a “how-to” technical training. We must give sustained attention to the ethical dimensions of AI usage, including exploration of whom it serves, whom it harms, how it can be used for good, and what it demands of us as human beings.

Preparation for Every Stage of AI
AI does not replace human judgment, nor does it replace creativity, relationships, or conscience. It cannot listen for God’s voice in our hearts. Of all the things that generative AI can do, it cannot generate Veritas. That is why it matters where decisions about AI are made and who is in the room when they are. Our graduates will be in those rooms. They must be capable of using AI, but more importantly, equipped to lead conversations about how it should and shouldn't be used.

We aspire for our students to understand impact, not simply function, and to hold themselves and their communities accountable in the ways that Pope Leo describes:

“For AI to respect human dignity and truly serve the common good, responsibility must be clearly defined at every stage: from those who design and develop these systems to those who use them and rely on them for concrete decisions. In many cases, however, the internal processes leading to a result remain opaque, making it harder to assign responsibility and correct errors. This is where accountability becomes crucial: the possibility of identifying who must account for decisions, justify them, monitor them, and, when necessary, challenge them and remedy any harm caused.”

The liberal arts are preparation for this moment. Aquinas graduates will enter a world rapidly reshaped by AI, competing alongside the technology, working within it, and helping govern it. As Saints, they will do so with discernment and the confidence that comes from knowing who they are and what they believe.

I will continue to think deeply about how we approach AI not simply as a technological question, but as a moral one, informed by Catholic Social Teaching and our Dominican pillars of study, prayer, community, and service. I invite you to explore these issues with me, share your thoughts, and offer your ideas on how we, as a community, can continue to engage the many aspects of a technology-driven world.  

Sincerely,

Sister Maureen R. Geary, O.P.
President