Pope Leo XIV reflects on the need for an ethical approach to healthcare systems, especially in light of the growing use of Artificial Intelligence and technological innovation as tools for management and optimisation of resources.
Vatican News
Receiving members of the Latin American Association of Private Health Systems (ALAMI) in the Vatican on Monday, Pope Leo XIV encouraged participants to maintain a clear ethical vision as technological and digital innovation continue to shape healthcare.
The group is in Rome for its 9th Seminar on Ethics in Health Management, held under the Pontifical Academy for Life.
In his address, the Pope noted that the seminar, taking place during the Jubilee Year, is also a “pilgrimage, in which reflection on the ethical value of our proposals becomes an important stage along the path that we, as society and as Church, are called to walk.”
He recognised the diverse expertise represented by the participants and said the Church welcomes them “as pilgrims of hope, considering valuable your diverse approaches, competencies, and intentions… in the common task of caring for the sick.”
Warning against ethical bias in AI
Addressing the challenges posed by technological advances, the Pope highlighted the risk of subtle forms of discrimination emerging in health systems, especially when artificial intelligence is misused.
He warned of “the possibility of bias… that falsifies or fraudulently excludes our perception of the reality of society and of the concrete patient, creating a situation of injustice in the management of health resources.”
The Pope cautioned that powerful digital tools could be manipulated for economic or political interests, generating “an often imperceptible bias in information, in management, and in the way we present ourselves to or approach others.”
Such distortions, he said, risk reducing persons “to objects, to data, to statistics” based on treatment costs or the nature of their illnesses.
A vision rooted in human dignity
To counter these tendencies, Pope Leo XIV invited health professionals to adopt a more expansive perspective guided by solidarity and the common good. Avoiding reductionist logic, he said, requires “changing our gaze… in looking, if you allow me, as God looks, not focusing on immediate profit but on what will be best for all.”
He pointed out that technological progress must never come at the expense of human relationships. “This broad vision must never be separated from human contact, from a gesture of care, from the recognition of the concrete person in his or her fragility and dignity,” he said.
The Pope concluded by expressing hope that such an integrated approach, uniting ethical foresight with attentive human presence, would guide health managers in their service.
