This article offers a theological interpretation of Nobel Prize-winning economist Daron Acemoğlu’s work on artificial intelligence (AI), read through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching (CST). While Acemoğlu provides a secular economic analysis of AI – emphasizing its institutional context, its labour-displacing tendencies, and the growing inequality it may produce – this article explores how CST can both engage and be enriched by his framework. After summarizing Acemoğlu’s findings, particularly his call for ‘human-complementary’ AI, the article examines the principles that govern theological engagement with economics. Arguing against any dependence of theology on secular reason, it proposes a two-way dialogue: Acemoğlu’s economics is illuminated by theological moral vision, while theology is made more institutionally and historically attuned through Acemoğlu’s insights. The result is a framework in which AI is not treated as an inevitable technological force, but as a product of moral and political choices. Interpreted theologically, Acemoğlu’s work becomes a call to develop just institutions that promote the dignity of labour, economic inclusion and the common good – goals that resonate deeply with the social doctrine of the Church.
Enrico Beltramini (Fri,) studied this question.