Editing Magnifica Humanitas: A Plain-Language Overview (section)

== Why did Leo XIV write it? ==

The title ''Magnifica Humanitas'' may be translated roughly as '''the grandeur of humanity'''.

Leo XIV begins from the conviction that humanity is created by God and possesses a dignity which technological change cannot confer and cannot remove.

The immediate setting is the extraordinary growth of artificial intelligence, robotics, digital platforms, biotechnology, and other forms of technological power. Leo XIV compares the present moment to the ''res novae'' — the “new things” — that confronted Pope Leo XIII during the Industrial Revolution.

Leo XIII responded to the social upheavals of industrialization with ''Rerum Novarum'' in 1891.

Leo XIV argues that our generation faces another set of “new things.” We therefore have to ask again:

* What is technology for?
* Who benefits from it?
* Who controls it?
* Who bears responsibility for its consequences?
* What happens to workers?
* What happens to families?
* What happens to truth?
* What happens to the poor and powerless?
* What happens to human freedom?
* And, ultimately, does technological progress make human life more fully human?

The encyclical does '''not''' argue that technology is inherently bad. Leo explicitly describes technology as part of human history and recognizes that technological development has greatly improved human life.<ref name="MH" />

The problem arises when the possession of technological power is confused with wisdom about how that power should be used.