Whether you choose to use it or not, artificial intelligence, or AI, is becoming an increasingly more pervasive part of our everyday lives, in all industries, and especially in design. As a designer and business owner, I’m currently grappling with both the challenges and the benefits from AI being used in my line of work. It’s a constant, giant question mark that hangs over my head: Should I use AI or not? If so, how do I do so with integrity?

I don’t know about you, but artificial intelligence has been at the top of my mind recently. As a software engineer, AI has taken its spot in the driver's seat and has drastically changed my day-to-day work. We are being called to “AI-forward development” and embracing any opportunity to use this new technology.

Just over a year into the papacy of the first American pope, Pope Leo XIV has released his first encyclical: Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”). Subtitled “Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” the encyclical is timely, beautifully written, and challenging.

There is so much to digest and pray about, and I recommend that everyone read the encyclical in full (like other encyclicals, it’s available for free on the Vatican’s website). In the meantime, however, I’ve gathered five takeaways for Catholic professional women. I’ll be meditating on them over the coming days, weeks, and months. I hope you will, too!