Aligned in Human Dignity? Parallel Anthropological Aspects of EU Tech Regulation and Pope Francis’ Teaching on AI

Török, Bernát and Darabos, Ádám (2025) Aligned in Human Dignity? Parallel Anthropological Aspects of EU Tech Regulation and Pope Francis’ Teaching on AI. RELIGIONS, 16 (3). No. 312. ISSN 2077-1444

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Abstract

The latest technological advancements, above all artificial intelligence, are raising pressing questions regarding the relationship between machines and humans. Not only have previously known challenges arisen in the new context of digital technological achievements, but machines have now penetrated into spheres of human existence where they were not present until now. In addition to other ethical problems, there are therefore fundamental anthropological questions needing answers, which would clarify the role of the latest digital technologies in the context of our individual and social lives, and define the boundaries of the inviolable human spheres. In this study, we compare responses to these challenges from two important sources. First, we will review how the use of artificial intelligence and the anthropological challenges it poses appear in the teaching of Pope Francis, in line with the Catholic Church’s wider teaching on technology. Second, we examine how this problem is treated in the legislation of the European Union, which is a leader in the regulation of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence. We will highlight four concrete challenges posed by artificial intelligence to the human person (profiling, predictive algorithms, human intervention and manipulation), to which the legislation of the European Union has responded partly on anthropological grounds. We will argue that a systematic analysis of the relevant EU regulations on digital technologies (the General Data Protection Regulation, the Digital Services Act, and the Artificial Intelligence Act) can shed light on new aspects of the legal concept of human dignity, which—even without religious justifications—clearly mirror significant elements of Christian anthropology that are present in Pope Francis’ teaching on artificial intelligence. The anthropological approach of the European legislation is remarkable from a comparative perspective, since other globally relevant regulators have not yet taken such a position and seem to prioritize practical advantages, especially effectivity in the context of new technologies.

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