What Makes Human Beings Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence?
The rapid development of artificial intelligence raises new questions about the nature and dignity of humankind. At its core is the question of what distinguishes the human person when machines increasingly assume abilities previously considered uniquely human. This work explores this question through a philosophical and theological dialogue between Pope Leo XIV, Hans Jonas, and Judith Butler. The focus is on three central aspects: human dignity, responsibility, and vulnerability. The aim is to reflect on how the human person can be understood and protected in the age of AI in the face of new technological challenges.
In the AI era, humans must protect their dignity and preserve freedom, responsibility, relationships, vulnerability, and compassion—the qualities that make us truly human.
This doctoral research develops a philosophical-theological understanding of the human person through a critical dialogue between Pope Leo XIV, Hans Jonas and Judith Butler. Pope Leo XIV provides a theological anthropology grounded in Imago Dei, intrinsic human dignity, freedom, relationality and human flourishing. Hans Jonas contributes an ethics of responsibility that responds to the unprecedented technological power of modern humanity and emphasizes responsibility for authentic human life and future generations. Judith Butler contributes an account of vulnerability, embodiment, dependency, recognition and relationality, challenging the idea of the human being as an autonomous and self-sufficient individual.
The research does not assume that these three approaches are completely compatible. Rather, it examines their convergences, differences and possible tensions. Within this dialogue, dignity, responsibility and vulnerability will be examined as fundamental normative dimensions of personhood, without claiming that they constitute an exhaustive definition of human uniqueness. The study will then investigate whether these dimensions can provide normative criteria for evaluating whether AI respects, protects or undermines human dignity, moral agency, vulnerable persons and authentic human flourishing.
Research Objectives
- To examine the philosophical and theological foundations of human personhood, including dignity, freedom, rationality, embodiment, relationality and moral agency.
- To analyse the understanding of the human person in Pope Leo XIV, Hans Jonas and Judith Butler, particularly their different approaches to dignity, responsibility and vulnerability.
- To critically compare the three thinkers, identifying their points of convergence, differences and possible tensions regarding human personhood.
- To examine dignity, responsibility and vulnerability as fundamental normative dimensions of personhood, without treating them as a complete definition of human uniqueness.
- To develop a philosophical-theological framework for evaluating Artificial Intelligence, especially whether AI respects human dignity, supports responsible human agency, protects vulnerable persons and promotes human flourishing.
Research Questions
- What makes the human person truly human in the age of Artificial Intelligence, and what are the fundamental characteristics of human personhood?
- How does Pope Leo XIV understand human dignity and personhood, particularly through Imago Dei, freedom, relationality and human flourishing?
- How does Hans Jonas’s ethics of responsibility respond to modern technological power, particularly in relation to the preservation of authentic human life and future generations?
- How does Judith Butler’s understanding of vulnerability, embodiment and relationality contribute to an understanding of the human person?
- How can dignity, responsibility and vulnerability function as normative criteria for evaluating AI, particularly in determining whether AI respects or undermines human personhood and human flourishing?
Research Methods
- The research will primarily employ textual analysis and critical interpretation. The primary texts of Pope Leo XIV, Hans Jonas and Judith Butler will be studied within their respective philosophical, theological and historical contexts. Particular attention will be given to their understandings of the human person, dignity, responsibility, vulnerability and relationality.
- Secondly, the research will undertake a systematic comparative analysis of the three approaches. The purpose is not to assume their compatibility but to identify their convergences, differences and possible tensions.
- Thirdly, the research will develop a constructive philosophical-theological synthesis. Dignity, responsibility and vulnerability will be examined as fundamental normative dimensions of personhood within a broader understanding of the human person.
- Finally, the resulting framework will be applied to contemporary AI. AI technologies will be evaluated according to whether they respect human dignity, support responsible human agency, protect vulnerable persons and contribute to authentic human flourishing.
Literature
- Butler, Judith. Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? London: Verso, 2009.
- Butler, Judith. Precarious Life: The Powers of Mourning and Violence. London: Verso, 2004.
- Coeckelbergh, Mark. Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020.
- Crawford, Kate. Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2021.
- Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Dignitas Infinita. Vatican City, 2024.
- Floridi, Luciano. The Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
- Jonas, Hans. The Imperative of Responsibility: In Search of an Ethics for the Technological Age. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
- Pope Leo XIV, Magnifica Humanitas (Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, forthcoming),2026.
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Supervisor
Univ. - Prof. Dr Wilhelm Guggenberger
(Department of Systematic Theology)
Universität Innsbruck
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Doctoral Candidate
Jinson Thomas, M.A., B.Th., B.Phil.
jinson.Thomas@student.uibk.ac.at
