When the Pope Weighs In on AI, Business Owners Should Pay Attention

How Avidity Innovations approaches AI the right way — and what it means for your business

On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV released his first major papal document. He didn't write about war. He didn't write about poverty. He wrote about artificial intelligence.

The 42,000-word encyclical — titled Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity") — sent a clear message to the world: AI systems are spreading misinformation, prioritizing conflict, and risking leading the world down a dangerous path. He called for robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, and a political system that does not abandon its responsibility to govern this technology.

When the leader of 1.4 billion Catholics dedicates his first major statement to the dangers of unchecked AI, it's worth a few minutes of your time.

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So What Does This Have to Do With Your Business?

You run a real operation. Crews in the field. Payroll to meet. Jobs to bid. The last thing you need is another technology vendor promising the moon and leaving you with a mess.

That's exactly why the Pope's message matters to us — and should matter to you.

Leo warned that AI could give Big Tech companies and their leaders levels of power they will abuse for the sake of profit. He's not wrong. There are a lot of firms selling AI tools right now that don't have your interests at heart. They want your subscription fee. They want your data. And when things go sideways, they won't be picking up the phone.

At Avidity Innovations, we think about this differently.

What Responsible AI Actually Looks Like in the Trades

AI is not magic. Think of it like a good foreman: useful only when it has clear instructions, the right tools, and someone accountable overseeing the work. Handed to the wrong crew without oversight, a foreman can cause more problems than he solves. Same goes for AI.

Here's what responsible AI use looks like for a subcontracting or trades business:

It solves a specific problem. We don't deploy AI for the sake of it. Every system we build is tied to a real bottleneck in your business — estimating, scheduling, follow-up, dispatch, job costing. If it doesn't save you time or money, it doesn't belong.

You stay in control. AI tools offer efficiency and reach, but they cannot replace the uniquely human capacities for empathy, ethics, and moral responsibility. You make the calls. AI handles the repetitive work behind them.

It's built with guardrails. The Pope called for protecting workers' rights and keeping children safe from the technology, and urged a cooling of competition between AI developers. We agree. Any automation we put in place protects your team, your clients, and your reputation.

Someone is accountable. We stay involved through implementation — not just strategy. If something breaks or doesn't perform, we fix it. Full stop.

Our Commitment to You

Avidity Innovations exists to help lower middle market businesses — companies like yours — compete using tools that used to be reserved for companies 10 times your size. But we will never deploy AI in your business recklessly.

We believe what Pope Leo put in plain terms: technology must serve people, not the other way around. In the trades, that means your crews aren't replaced by algorithms. Your relationships with general contractors aren't outsourced to a chatbot. Your judgment — built over decades — stays at the center of every decision.

What AI should do is take the busywork off your plate so you can focus on the work only you can do.

The Bottom Line

The Pope's message was directed at governments and Big Tech. But the principle applies all the way down to a $10 million roofing company or mechanical subcontractor in the middle of the country.

AI is here. It's not going away. The question isn't whether to use it — it's whether the people helping you use it are doing so responsibly.

That's the only kind of work we do.

Avidity Innovations provides fractional Chief Automation Officer services to specialty subcontractors and trades businesses across the U.S. If you want to understand what AI could — and couldn't — do for your operation, schedule a discovery call.