Pope Leo XIV’s recent ecclesiastical letter, Magnifica Humanitas, on Artificial Intelligence has sparked a moment of reflection. The letter is not just a policy paper about technology, but an examination of conscience and one’s role in technology.
For those who work in technology and related fields, it is easy to reduce their work to abstraction, using terms like pipelines, models, and revenue optimization. However, these words can conceal the true nature of the work.
The Intersection of Technology and Ethics
A writer who spent time in the advertising agency business notes that a considerable amount of intellectual energy went into understanding persuasion, shaping behavior, and building emotional associations. This experience has led them to reflect on the potential consequences of their work in the technology industry.
The writer’s father worked in the cigarette business, which was once considered glamorous and sophisticated but is now understood to be one of the largest industrialized mechanisms of preventable human death. This example highlights the importance of examining the moral effect of the systems we participate in building.
The writer notes that most systems are not built by villains, but by ordinary people doing competent work inside incentive structures. The challenge is to examine the cumulative moral effect of these systems and consider whether we are willing to make changes.
The writer’s professional world sits at the intersection of airlines, travel, tourism, technology, distribution systems, consumer platforms, data flows, and increasingly AI-driven advisory work. They recall a meeting where they questioned whether anyone considered the potential impact of their work on employment.
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The modern travel ecosystem is a true ecosystem, with opaque algorithms determining visibility and pricing, asymmetries between platform knowledge and consumer understanding, and extraction and concentration of data. The writer is concerned that they may be merely a cog inside a machine that optimizes humans or if they are helping humanize the machine itself.
This concern is not just theoretical, as every sufficiently large system eventually carries moral consequences, whether intended or not. The writer notes that scale amplifies incentives faster than conscience, and it is up to individuals to undertake their own examination of conscience.
Two books are recommended to frame understanding of influence: 400 Million Consumers and The Hidden Persuaders. These books can provide insight into the ways in which technology and advertising can shape behavior and influence decision-making.
The writer, Timothy O’Neil-Dunne, has over 40 years of experience in the travel and distribution technology industry and is the Principal at T2Impact, LLC, an analysis and consulting firm that specializes in aviation, travel, and leisure.
In the context of the technology industry, the concept of optimization is often prioritized, with the goal of increasing efficiency and productivity. However, this prioritization can lead to a displacement of humanity, as systems become more focused on optimizing processes than on supporting human well-being. The Magnifica Humanitas letter challenges individuals to consider the moral implications of their work and to examine the cumulative moral effect of the systems they participate in building.
Limits of External Moral Guidance
The author notes they are not claiming moral superiority and, for the record, have never smoked. They caution that ethics debates often let participants view themselves as enlightened observers while blaming the “evil technologist,” “unethical corporation,” “reckless startup founder,” or “manipulative platform.”