Pope Leo XIV’s Call for Human-Centred AI Exposes the Hidden Human Cost of the Global AI Industry

The rapid rise of artificial intelligence has transformed industries, created billion-dollar companies, and reshaped how people work and communicate. Yet beneath the excitement surrounding AI lies an uncomfortable reality: much of the technology’s success depends on labour and resources sourced through systems many experts describe as exploitative.

This tension was brought into sharp focus after Pope Leo XIV called for artificial intelligence to be developed and deployed in ways that place human dignity at the centre.

In his recent encyclical letter on safeguarding humanity in the age of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo XIV argued that scientific and technological advancement should never be separated from moral and ethical responsibility. According to the pontiff, AI systems should be designed and used in ways that promote the common good and protect human dignity from development to deployment.

However, the Pope’s message raises a difficult question for the global technology industry: can today’s AI ecosystem survive without the forms of exploitation that helped build it?

The Hidden Workforce Behind Artificial Intelligence

Many of the hundreds of millions of people who use AI tools every week may not realise that large language models rely heavily on human workers who perform some of the industry’s most difficult and psychologically damaging tasks.

Across countries including Kenya, Uganda, India, Nigeria, and Ghana, thousands of data labelers and content moderators review disturbing materials involving violence, abuse, self-harm, and other harmful content so that AI systems can learn to identify and filter them.

Many investigations over recent years have highlighted concerns about low wages, traumatic working conditions, and inadequate mental health support for these workers. While the AI industry has generated enormous wealth, critics argue that those performing essential foundational work often receive only a tiny fraction of the value they help create.

The Billion-Dollar AI Race and the Cost of Profit

The artificial intelligence industry remains in an aggressive growth phase, with major technology companies competing to dominate what many view as the next technological revolution.

OpenAI reported annualised revenue reaching billions of dollars, while technology giants such as Microsoft and Meta Platforms continue to invest heavily in AI infrastructure and products.

At the same time, labour rights advocates argue that the industry’s rapid expansion has been supported by outsourced workers facing difficult conditions and limited compensation.

Critics suggest that if companies fully compensated the workers responsible for content moderation, data labeling, and other foundational tasks, profit margins across the industry could be significantly reduced. This has led some observers to question whether the current AI business model can truly prioritise humanity while maintaining its extraordinary financial growth.

OpenAI’s Transformation Reflects the Industry’s Shift

When OpenAI was founded in 2015, its mission focused heavily on ensuring artificial intelligence would benefit humanity.

Over the past decade, however, the organisation has undergone a dramatic transformation as it pursued larger investments and commercial opportunities. Its evolution from a non-profit research organisation into a for-profit enterprise has become, for many critics, a symbol of how commercial pressures increasingly shape AI development.

Supporters argue that massive funding is necessary to build advanced AI systems, while opponents believe the shift demonstrates how profit incentives can overshadow original humanitarian goals.

Africa’s Minerals Are Powering the AI Revolution

The human cost of AI extends beyond digital labour.

Modern artificial intelligence relies heavily on massive data centres, semiconductor manufacturing, and advanced computing infrastructure. These technologies require critical minerals such as cobalt, coltan, lithium, copper, and rare earth elements.

Much of these resources originate in Africa.

Democratic Republic of the Congo produces more than 70% of the world’s cobalt supply and remains a major source of coltan, both of which are essential components in modern electronics and AI hardware.

Human rights organisations have repeatedly raised concerns about unsafe mining practices, child labour, poor working conditions, and environmental destruction associated with mineral extraction in some mining regions. In many cases, artisanal miners work under dangerous conditions while earning extremely low incomes.

Critics argue that the global AI industry benefits from supply chains whose human and environmental costs remain largely invisible to end users.

The Environmental Burden of AI Infrastructure

Artificial intelligence also carries a growing environmental footprint.

The massive data centres required to train and operate advanced AI systems consume enormous amounts of electricity and water. These facilities require constant cooling to maintain operations, creating additional pressure on local resources.

Recent reports have highlighted concerns that many newly constructed data centres are being developed in regions already experiencing significant water stress, raising questions about the long-term sustainability of AI infrastructure expansion.

As demand for AI services continues to grow worldwide, environmental experts warn that balancing technological advancement with responsible resource management will become increasingly important.

Surveillance, Layoffs, and Growing Ethical Questions

Concerns surrounding artificial intelligence extend beyond labour and environmental issues.

Technology companies have announced significant workforce reductions while simultaneously accelerating investments in AI systems. Privacy advocates have also raised alarms over emerging AI-powered consumer devices and their potential impact on personal privacy and surveillance.

Meanwhile, the complex global supply chains supporting artificial intelligence often make accountability difficult. Outsourcing companies, manufacturing partners, mining operations, and technology corporations all participate in systems where responsibility can become fragmented.

This complexity, critics argue, makes ethical oversight increasingly challenging.

Can Human-Centred AI Become Reality?

Despite the criticism surrounding modern AI development, Pope Leo XIV’s central argument remains that artificial intelligence itself is not inherently harmful.

Instead, he argues that the ethical outcomes of AI depend on the choices made by governments, corporations, and society.

Some companies have demonstrated that stronger ethical standards are possible. For example, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company has long required suppliers of critical minerals to disclose sourcing information and comply with conflict-free sourcing standards.

Advocates argue that similar commitments across the AI industry could help reduce exploitation, improve labour conditions, and strengthen supply chain accountability without necessarily undermining commercial success.

As artificial intelligence becomes more deeply integrated into everyday life, the debate highlighted by Pope Leo XIV may ultimately define the future of the technology itself: whether AI will primarily serve profit, or whether it can truly be built around the dignity and wellbeing of humanity.