October 7, 2025
Faced with the apparent far superior calculating, knowledge retrieval, even creativity prowess of the current explosion of artificial intelligence, we are all asking many new, some even troubling, questions, in search of trying to understand what is the true nature of the human intelligence.
In January 2025, the Vatican published a very interesting document “Antiqua et Nova” with some philosophical and theological reflections on the relationship between the human intelligence and so-called “artificial intelligence.”
The capabilities of artificial “intelligence” are changing and developing rapidly in ways that might cause many doubts and even fears. An ethical reflection on its usage is crucial. But if this constantly evolving situation can press us to reflect more deeply on who we are as human persons, created in God’s image with the capacity to love and to think, then it will have surprisingly done us a great service.
Below are some key takeaways from “Antiqua et Nova”:
Sirach affirms, God “gave skill to human beings, that he might be glorified in his marvelous works” (Sir. 38:6). Human abilities and creativity come from God and, when used rightly, glorify God by reflecting his wisdom and goodness. In light of this, when we ask ourselves what it means to “be human,” we cannot exclude a consideration of our scientific and technological abilities. (§ 2)
AI’s advanced features give it sophisticated abilities to perform tasks, but not the ability to think. This distinction is crucially important, as the way “intelligence” is defined inevitably shapes how we understand the relationship between human thought and this technology. To appreciate this, one must recall the richness of the philosophical tradition and Christian theology, which offer a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of intelligence—an understanding that is central to the Church’s teaching on the nature, dignity, and vocation of the human person. (§ 12)
Ratio versus Intellectus:
From the dawn of human self-reflection, the mind has played a central role in understanding what it means to be “human.” Aristotle observed that “all people by nature desire to know.”” (§ 13)
In the classical tradition, the concept of intelligence is often understood through the complementary concepts of “reason” (ratio) and “intellect” (intellectus). These are not separate faculties but, as Saint Thomas Aquinas explains, they are two modes in which the same intelligence operates: “The term intellect is inferred from the inward grasp of the truth, while the name reason is taken from the inquisitive and discursive process.” This concise description highlights the two fundamental and complementary dimensions of human intelligence. Intellectus refers to the intuitive grasp of the truth—that is, apprehending it with the “eyes” of the mind—which precedes and grounds argumentation itself. Ratio pertains to reasoning proper: the discursive, analytical process that leads to judgment. Together, intellect and reason form the two facets of the act of intelligere, “the proper operation of the human being as such.” (§ 14)
Intelligence at the service of Love:
Human beings are “ordered by their very nature to interpersonal communion,” possessing the capacity to know one another, to give themselves in love, and to enter into communion with others. Accordingly, human intelligence is not an isolated faculty but is exercised in relationships, finding its fullest expression in dialogue, collaboration, and solidarity. We learn with others, and we learn through others.
The relational orientation of the human person is ultimately grounded in the eternal self-giving of the Triune God, whose love is revealed in creation and redemption. The human person is “called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life.”
This vocation to communion with God is necessarily tied to the call to communion with others. Love of God cannot be separated from love for one’s neighbor (cf. 1 Jn. 4:20; Mt. 22:37-39). (…) Even more sublime than knowing many things is the commitment to care for one another, for if “I understand all mysteries and all knowledge [...] but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). (§§ 18-20)
Intelligence is ordered to the truth :
Human intelligence is ultimately “God’s gift fashioned for the assimilation of truth.” In the dual sense of intellectus-ratio, it enables the person to explore realities that surpass mere sensory experience or utility, since “the desire for truth is part of human nature itself. It is an innate property of human reason to ask why things are as they are.” Moving beyond the limits of empirical data, human intelligence can “with genuine certitude attain to reality itself as knowable.” While reality remains only partially known, the desire for truth “spurs reason always to go further; indeed, it is as if reason were overwhelmed to see that it can always go beyond what it has already achieved.” Although Truth in itself transcends the boundaries of human intelligence, it irresistibly attracts it. Drawn by this attraction, the human person is led to seek “truths of a higher order.” (§ 21)
Intelligence as part of the human person as a whole, body and soul :
In this context, human intelligence becomes more clearly understood as a faculty that forms an integral part of how the whole person engages with reality. Authentic engagement requires embracing the full scope of one’s being: spiritual, cognitive, embodied, and relational.
This engagement with reality unfolds in various ways, as each person, in his or her multifaceted individuality, seeks to understand the world, relate to others, solve problems, express creativity, and pursue integral well-being through the harmonious interplay of the various dimensions of the person’s intelligence. This involves logical and linguistic abilities but can also encompass other modes of interacting with reality. Consider the work of an artisan, who “must know how to discern, in inert matter, a particular form that others cannot recognize” and bring it forth through insight and practical skill. Indigenous peoples who live close to the earth often possess a profound sense of nature and its cycles. Similarly, a friend who knows the right word to say or a person adept at managing human relationships exemplifies an intelligence that is “the fruit of self-examination, dialogue and generous encounter between persons.” (…)
At the heart of the Christian understanding of intelligence is the integration of truth into the moral and spiritual life of the person, guiding his or her actions in light of God’s goodness and truth. According to God’s plan, intelligence, in its fullest sense, also includes the ability to savor what is true, good, and beautiful. As the twentieth-century French poet Paul Claudel expressed, “intelligence is nothing without delight.” Similarly, Dante, upon reaching the highest heaven in Paradiso, testifies that the culmination of this intellectual delight is found in the “light intellectual full of love, love of true good filled with joy, joy which transcends every sweetness.”
A proper understanding of human intelligence, therefore, cannot be reduced to the mere acquisition of facts or the ability to perform specific tasks. Instead, it involves the person’s openness to the ultimate questions of life and reflects an orientation toward the True and the Good. As an expression of the divine image within the person, human intelligence has the ability to access the totality of being, contemplating existence in its fullness, which goes beyond what is measurable, and grasping the meaning of what has been understood. For believers, (…) true intelligence is shaped by divine love, which “is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 5:5). From this, it follows that human intelligence possesses an essential contemplative dimension, an unselfish openness to the True, the Good, and the Beautiful, beyond any utilitarian purpose. (§§ 26-29)
