Pope's AI encyclical raises stakes for Italy's forgotten regions

Pope Leo XIV has issued his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on artificial intelligence, rejecting the premise that markets alone should govern the technology's development. According to Project Syndicate commentators, the Pope has posed a direct challenge to what they call "Chicago School economics"—the idea that profit and price signals can be trusted to shape society's technological future. The encyclical invokes the biblical Tower of Babel as a parable for AI: a technology that promises salvation but risks damnation through human hubris.

The Vatican's intervention in the AI debate carries weight in Italy, where the Church remains a significant cultural and moral authority. However, the Pope's vision of technology directed toward human flourishing and dignity has particular urgency in regions like Sardinia, where the digital divide between coastal and interior areas has widened dramatically. While the Vatican debates the ethics of AI development, much of Sardinia's interior still lacks reliable broadband access, let alone the infrastructure to participate in the digital economy that AI is reshaping.

The encyclical's emphasis on human dignity over profit speaks to a broader anxiety about technological displacement and economic inequality. Project Syndicate noted that the Pope's call for "more thought and action about AI" is directed at policymakers and publics everywhere. Yet in Sardinia, where rural depopulation is accelerating and young people are emigrating in search of economic opportunity, the question is not abstract: without access to digital tools and AI-driven services, the island's interior risks further marginalisation.