AI: A New Social Crisis

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has identified artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the most critical issues facing humanity. In laying out this vision, the Pope connected this issue of AI to both his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, and his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Leo XIII famously addressed the social crises of the Industrial Revolution in his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, a foundational text for Catholic social teaching. Now, over a century later, Pope Leo XIV sees the world undergoing a new industrial revolution, only this time driven by the exponential growth of artificial intelligence.

Francis, towards the end of his pontificate, became increasingly concerned about the threat that AI posed to humanity. He was specifically concerned about human relations being turned into mere algorithms and decisions on important matters, including the use of lethal weapons, being taken outside of a human-centric context.

Echoing both of his predecessors, Leo XIV recently declared:

“In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”

These concerns are not solely confined to the Roman Catholic Church. Christians of all traditions ought to take seriously the moral and spiritual implications of AI technology.

I will investigate just three of these reasons for concern in the advancement of AI technology in this new industrial age. These general concerns posed by various scholars and Church leaders are idolatry, loneliness, and extension of human sinfulness.

Idolatry

Theologian Noreen Herzfeld’s work on artificial intelligence and being made in the image of God sheds some light on how idolatry can sneak into the ways we create, think about, and use AI. Herzfeld draws on a relational interpretation of being made in the image of God. We are not just made as rational and creative beings, but beings made for relationship with God and one another. When we put ourselves or something else in the place of God, we are committing a form of idolatry. Although creating is part of being made in the image of God, when we attempt to create something in our own image, we are putting ourselves in the place of a God and fulfilling the embedded human-God relational connectivity with human-machine.

“To replace relationship with God and with each other with relationship with our own artifacts is idolatry. If we hope to find in AI that other with whom we can share our being and responsibilities, then we will have created a stand-in for God in our own image,” Herzfeld writes.

AI can also tempt us into idolatry by placing unreserved trust and the hope of salvation for humanity into, essentially, a tool or algorithm. Isaiah 44:9-20 exposes this foolishness when the prophet rebukes the Israelites for taking wood, properly used as a tool for a hearth or baking and instead fashions it into an object of worship. This foolishness is even more tempting when the tool has extreme intelligence capacities and functions. In this way, the AI itself becomes an idolatrous stand-in for God.

Loneliness

Christians must also be aware that AI elicits a temptation to replace deep, authentic relationships with superficial, unembodied ones. An epidemic of loneliness is spreading and individuals across the globe now turn to AI to help with a cure. The Harvard Business Review found that therapy/companionship is now the number one use for Generative AI in 2025.

This reflects a desperate need for deep, meaningful relationships as we move into an age of distance and isolation from community. However, it should be concerning for Christians to find that lonely individuals are seeing an unembodied thing as a source of comfort. Christ-following believers understand that we are made for fellowship and community with other humans that are undeniably bodily beings. A central part of Christian community is being connected within the “body of Christ.” What humanity needs and is truly longing for is belonging, community, and a home within this “body of Christ” found in various passages of scripture including Romans 12:5 and 1 Corinthians 10:17. Churches and Christians everywhere should be active about stepping in to fill this need for belonging and community to deter that inevitable disappointment of finding comfort in a mere algorithm.

Human Sinfulness

Finally, AI reflects and amplifies human sinfulness and brokenness. This is problematic within the realm of AI because it is an “intelligent” machine based on human-made algorithms that generate decisions and ideas based on humanity. However, some of its capabilities extend much further than that of a human. This can be incredibly dangerous if embedded as either an intentional or unintentional reflection of human wickedness and sinfulness.

For example, Anthropic’s recent advancements in its Claude 4 showed capacity for self-preservation, blackmail, and deception.

This reflects the late Pope Francis’ concerns of AI being put into the wrong hands and being developed without basic human morality embedded.

While AI may have enormous potential benefits for humanity, Christians should not stand idly by in its development. Just as Leo XIV advocates, Christians around the globe should not be ignorant of the integration of AI into the workplace and everyday life. They should be a guiding force for the responsible and ethical use of AI with wisdom, discernment, and love.