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In a recent post, I shared a brief book review of Project Maven, an account of a program initiated within the Pentagon in 2017 to use AI not only for battlefield surveillance but to target people and resources. The author points to the evolution of this project to the ultimate goal—removing humans from the decision-making process.
On May 25, Pope Leo XIV released Magnifica Humanitas, or “Magnificent Humanity,” the Catholic Church’s first major theological statement about artificial intelligence. No matter your tradition, this document deserves your close attention.
In response to the encyclical, Cameron Trimble, CEO of Convergence, cited several key considerations, but here is one of special note:
“He [Pope Leo] declared ‘just war’ theory outdated, which is a major theological step.
One of the encyclical’s most striking points is about AI in warfare. Leo says clearly that the Catholic Church’s centuries-old ‘just war’ framework, which sets rules for when and how force can be used, is now ‘outdated’ because of the new reality of AI-guided weapons. He says it is ‘not permissible to entrust irreversible, lethal decisions to AI systems’ and calls for full transparency in the chain of command whenever AI is used in military decisions.
“For churches that have relied on just war theory to think about war and peace, this is a big change. It is also a realistic one. When a drone can be guided by an algorithm to make a life-or-death decision in milliseconds without a human involved, the old ethical frameworks from the days of swords and rifles are no longer enough.”
There is a significant difference in war when the combatants are autonomous machines rather than human beings. When lives are not at risk, an attacking nation may have fewer qualms about escalating a conflict, knowing that their citizen soldiers are not at risk. At the same time, machines have no moral boundaries and may not consider avoiding unneeded deaths of incapacitated troops, sparring those wishing to surrender, and protecting noncombatants in harm’s way. And, finally, machines make mistakes. They are only as good as the information provided to them.
Pope Leo’s encyclical challenges nations to stop, take a breath, and consider the consequences of linking a lethal weapon with an inhuman decision maker. Can wars become more catastrophic? Yes.
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