As technology advances more rapidly than most of us can keep up with, sometimes we might feel so frustrated we want to walk away from the internet altogether.
Constantly changing social media platforms, fake videos and photos made by computers, algorithms that feed us biased information — it all feels like too much.
Fortunately there is a better way. There’s a way to use media thoughtfully, so that it adds good things to our lives instead of bad.
Pope Leo XIV explained how to do it in his recent letter for the World Day of Social Communications.
The letter, called Preserving Human Faces and Voices, is so thoughtful and helpful that we recommend reading it for yourself here.
But you’re busy — we get it. So here are the key points to know.
1“Do not renounce your ability to think”
Pope Leo describes how “faces and voices are sacred,” as God “imprinted on our faces a reflection of divine love.”
We can’t let today’s AI technologies “encroach upon the deepest lever of communication, that of human relationships.”
There’s a need to practice careful discernment and not let “algorithms reduce our ability to listen and think critically.”
AI seems like a “friend,” he writes, but be careful not to rely on it or trust it too much: Let’s not bury the talents God gave us by handing them over to AI.
The key is to be careful and thoughtful. Don’t let modern technology steal your ability to think and reason for yourself.
2Our task is “not to stop digital innovation, but rather to guide it”
Pope Leo also called for greater responsibility in the use of technology.
Those who design online platforms must “consider the common good” in what they produce.
Governments must “ensure respect for human dignity.”
Media companies must offer a public service built on trust, accuracy, and transparency.
And all of us can support these safeguards and do our part to build “informed and responsible digital citizenship.”
3Spread education and literacy
How can each of us build “a healthier and more responsible culture of communication”?
Pope Leo encouraged spreading “media, information and AI literacy” for all ages.
Proper understanding of technology, he wrote, will make it possible for everyone to “treat these systems as tools” and use them in a way that is still deeply human.
Literacy will also help every person to protect their data and privacy for a safer online experience.
We are living through a kind of technological revolution, he said, and we need to properly equip ourselves:
Just as the industrial revolution called for basic literacy to enable people to respond to new developments, so too does the digital revolution require digital literacy (along with humanistic and cultural education) to understand how algorithms shape our perception of reality, how AI biases work, what mechanisms determine the presence of certain content in our feeds, what the economic principles and models of the AI economy are and how they might change.
To get started, you might consider a digital literacy course, like these free self-directed courses from the American Library Association.
Together, we can make the online world a healthier place to be, while protecting ourselves from threatening elements. Pope Leo reminds us:
We need faces and voices to speak for people again. We need to cherish the gift of communication as the deepest truth of humanity, to which all technological innovation should also be oriented.
