The Machines vs. Magnificence
In this age of AI, everyone’s making it known where they stand, and an official teaching—called an encyclical—from Pope Leo XIV was released at the end of May. It’s titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity) and is all about the preservation of humanity with the rise of artificial intelligence. Reading it, I was thinking about how his teaching informs my writerly mindset, and, in broad terms, I’m reminded this: We, as writers, must take out time.
Personally, I’ve never used AI as part of my writing process and haven’t felt inclined to make an attempt, mostly because I don’t believe the robot is going to be better at it than I am. For something with “intelligence” in its name, I haven’t been razzled nor dazzled by its intellect. Don’t get me started on my low opinion of Alexa…
What I love from the Pope’s teaching—and what I’m anchoring these blog thoughts around—is what he states is our pressing duty: “to remain profoundly human.”
When it comes to technology, it’s not inherently evil, and there are plenty of examples of it improving our ways of living. An interesting point the encyclical brings up for consideration, though, is that technology is never neutral “because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise, finance, regulate and use it.” In the literary world, when readers come across signs that indicate AI’s been used—when it’s lacking that solely human touch—their reactions are usually not positive. It doesn’t seem like they’re neutral, either.
I’ve long thought that to be a writer, to be a creative, is to do what the Pope said: be profoundly human. That’s what the art of story and storytelling is about. Our history, stretching far, far back, has us connecting over oral storytelling, and the songs and poetry passed along encapsulates this. Authors and aspiring writers, past and present, lean into this tradition as we take up the writing process in our own ways and efforts.
Being human, embracing our humanity, means another thing the Pope reminds us about: holding onto everyone’s natural dignity and valuing people not for what they do but because they simply are. Worth is not determined by productivity or efficiency, though we live in a time when too many people look at others for how they can contribute to making a profit. When efficiency is the standard by which we judge, “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.”
There’s much, much more Pope Leo discusses—and I have more notes that just don’t fit for today and what I’d like to convey—so, if you haven’t yet given the letter a read, I recommend.
But this language of efficiency and productivity, all in the context of how we see AI and digital spaces shaping the world, compels me to encourage you, fellow creative, to not give up the labor that is crafting art. We cannot give up our work, from the very start of the process when we’re framing ideas and gathering research to inform what we’re doing to even doing things by hand, like picking up a pen and physical paper and putting words down like that. It’s how I’ve drafted this blog post, and it’s never not refreshing to not look at a screen for hours at a time.
Asking AI questions or using different AI tools can speed up the process and make it more efficient. I understand that can be appealing to some people. The thing is we don’t write so we can tell the most efficient story. We don’t sit down to write, when we’re starting out and have the urge to pursue this expression, because we think it’s going to be a fast-paced hobby. We’re not trying to fast-track the craft because that’s how you sacrifice quality and the heart of a story.
You, as a creative, must be okay with a project possibly taking years. Or you may spend weeks on research. You must give time to the things that require it, and writing, art, is one of them.
Writing is profoundly human, it’s an ageless craft that is best practiced by the humanity that values the stories that emerge, and we need to keep it that way.
Work Cited: MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE LEO XIV ON SAFEGUARDING THE HUMAN PERSON IN THE TIME OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (2026)