…work is not simply an instrument; it expresses and enhances the dignity of our lives. It is a requirement of the human condition, a normal path toward maturity, development and personal fulfilment. (149)
Having your first child is never easy. There are sleepless nights, sore bodies, hormonal mood swings, and sometimes physical hurdles to overcome. For me, the first days of parenthood were compounded by my husband’s nearly endless work schedule and an emergency surgery a month in. Still, of all the challenges I faced in those early days, the most difficult for me was the loss of work – or, more correctly, the loss of mentally stimulating, creative work.
In many ways, I loved being at home with my children for most of their early years. I cherish my memories of library sing-a-longs, long nature walks, museum trips, and story time in the hammock. At the same time, I remember the maddening frustration caused by a lack of intellectual engagement and the feeling that I was meant to be doing something else.
When my son began preschool after seven (non-consecutive) years of being a stay-at-home-mom, the opportunity to build my writing career in earnest was a gulp of fresh air. It wasn’t just a cognitive relief, but also a spiritual one that emerged from the sense that I was more fully doing what I was created to do. It was as if a part of me, which had been suppressed, was again free to flourish. As a result, I began to enjoy my time with my children more. We fought less, I had more patience, and life felt more balanced.
Through the lens of Pope Leo’s encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, my experience makes sense. While we tend to think of the problem of unemployment strictly in a financial sense, Pope Leo paints a broader picture, saying, “…it is through their work that individuals develop many dimensions of their existence,” (148) and echoing St. Benedict of Nursia who saw prayer and work as intricately connected.
As people made in the image of a creative God of agency, we carry within us the need to act on our world in creative ways that make a difference. This is part of our magnificent humanity. While our worth does not come from what we do, but from who we image, it helps to guide us and give us purpose. Our labor allows us to build something that we can offer back to God while simultaneously giving him a tool for shaping and growing us. Pope Leo says, “Work remains a fundamental dimension of the human experience, for not only is it a means of sustenance, but it is also a context for expression, relationships and contributing to the community.” (154)
For this reason, the threat that AI poses to employment goes far beyond the potentially catastrophic economic consequences of mass unemployment (though this remains a critical issue for society to address). Pope Leo describes one potential impact of AI as, “…exposing many to inactivity, a lack of responsibility and the absence of daily tasks and stimuli, resulting in human and cultural impoverishment.” (154) In other words, unbridled adoption of AI has the potential to prevent people from doing the work that they were created to do and which would be used to continue their formation as God’s creatures. That is why it is imperative that we strive to establish safeguards that will ensure that the goal of AI “is to enable each person to live with dignity through his or her own work.” (149)
Of course, the current climate does not offer much hope that such safeguards will be adopted. Even apart from the culture that permeates Silicon Valley, employers in many developed countries have gradually shifted further away from the changes that unionization and social movements introduced in the years following Rerum Novarum. Many employers today operate on a business model that demands constant increase and growth, requiring workers to cut corners and work increasingly long hours to meet expectations. Every concession that employees make quickly becomes the “norm” and demands for new, more extreme concessions create an endless cycle of “job creep.” This comes at high cost to employees and their families who increasingly find themselves living unhealthy lifestyle that do not reflect their dignity as humans. This is in contrast to Church social teaching and may be the reason that Pope Leo wrote, “…measures are need to ensure a healthy way of living, for without a proper balance between work, leisure and rest, families are weakened and young people struggle to develop a sense of responsibility.” (169)
Tragically, these weakened families are among the lucky ones: the situation is far worse for those who Pope Leo describes as being ensnared in “new forms of slavery.” Some of these individuals are forced to do “largely unseen” jobs for minimal pay. Others – including children – engage in dangerous conditions to supply the materials necessary for consumer goods that they will not benefit from themselves. When the materials they are extracting support AI, Pope Leo describes the situation thus: “The bodies of these people are scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly.” (173) In the worst cases, the very technologies that are meant to better our lives are implemented in the trafficking of humans, perpetuating global slavery.
In many ways, it can be easy to let the seeming futility of the present moment overwhelm us and stun us into inaction, but Pope Leo encourages us to remember that no outcome is inevitable: we can choose to build something better. In fact, he reminds us that God is still working and he has the power to transform what today seems inescapable. “His plan is one that is often hidden beneath the opaque context of human events that see ‘the proud, the mighty and the rich’ triumph. Yet his secret strength is destined in the end to be revealed.” (243)
With this hope, the Holy Father urges us not to be afraid to “get our hands dirty” as we construct our responses to the present moment.
Image:”Ronald Tamfalan” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by kiambaonline
Ariane Sroubek is a writer, school psychologist and mother to two children here on earth. Prior to converting to Catholicism, she completed undergraduate studies in Bible and Theology at Gordon College in Wenham, MA. She then went on to obtain her doctorate in School and Child Clinical Psychology. Ariane’s writing is inspired by her faith, daily life experiences and education. She is currently writing a women's fiction novel and a middle-grade mystery series. Her non-fiction book, Raising Sunshine: A Guide to Parenting Through the Aftermath of Infant Death is available on Amazon. More of her work can be found at https://mysustaininggrace.com.
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