In his first encyclical Magnificas Humanitas, Pope Leo applies the wisdom of the Church to the defining technology of our time: AI. One key theme that emerges from the document is the need to center the human, safeguarding her dignity in the face of those who would prioritize the disruptive and destructive efficiencies of AI. In this talk we take up Pope Leo’s call to resist this technocratic paradigm by carefully considering just what a human is, and what we may become if we employ AI without adequate deliberation and restraint. AI is not a neutral tool, but has the potential to fundamentally change who we are as a species, transitioning us away from living our lives with agency (homo sapiens) into beings that seek to merely experience life passively (homo patiens).

Co-sponsored by the Schaeffer Center and the Catholic Campus Ministry of Longwood and Hampden-Sydney.

Dr. Adam Blincoe earned a BA in philosophy at Wake Forest University, a Masters of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary, a Masters of Philosophy from the University of Kentucky and a PhD in philosophy from the University of Virginia. His specialty is Neo-Aristotelian virtue ethics. His most recent publications treat the intersection of technology and human flourishing. He currently enjoys teaching philosophy and philosophy adjacent courses in the Cormier Honors College at Longwood University in Farmville. Outside of academics Adam enjoys (not in order of importance): reading, hot sauce, liturgical participation, plaid, playing with his kids, and having long conversations with his wife, Dr. Sarai Blincoe.