Inspired by Magnifica Humanitas
The publication of Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical Magnifica Humanitas prompted a series of reflections that extend beyond questions of artificial intelligence.
At its heart, the encyclical raises an older and deeper question:
What does it mean to be human?
As technological systems become increasingly capable of prediction, optimisation, classification, and decision-making, the discussion eventually returns to fundamental concerns about dignity, responsibility, vulnerability, judgment, and human relationships.
These questions are not limited to technology.
They emerge wherever human lives are assessed, managed, protected, or transformed.
For this reason, the reflections collected here do not seek to examine artificial intelligence itself.
Nor do they attempt to comment on any specific institution, profession, or individual case.
Instead, they explore a number of broader questions that arise at the intersection of human dignity, child protection, risk, and human relationships.
What happens when a family becomes a problem to be solved?
Can risk replace relationship?
What remains visible behind assessments, files, and categories?
And where are the boundaries between protection and replacement?
The pages that follow do not offer definitive answers.
They are simply an invitation to remain with these questions a little longer.
Because in an age increasingly shaped by prediction and optimisation, some of the most important questions may still be the oldest ones:
What is a person?
What is a family?
And what should never be forgotten when decisions are made about either?
When the Future Becomes Evidence 