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\u201cFace and Voice Are Sacred: Protecting What Makes Us Human\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n
by CAPP-USA<\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n <\/p>\n
\n![\"Mia](\"https:\/\/capp-usa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Mia-Zelu-is-a-generative-AI-virtual-influencer.jpg\")
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Mia Zelu is one example of many virtual influencers created with generative AI. The Instagram account has 245K followers as of this article.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Generative AI technologies now enable the creation of synthetic humans indistinguishable from real persons\u2014raising unprecedented questions about identity, consent, and human dignity. We face urgent ethical and social risks\u2014highlighted by recent AI apps that generate synthetic bodies, faces, and voices, and by pressures on (esp. young) actors to permanently surrender their likeness.<\/span><\/p>\nHow should public institutions and those committed to Catholic Social Teaching (CST) respond to these emerging violations of human dignity and justice?<\/span><\/p>\nFrom the CST standpoint, the response is not: \u201cHow do we regulate AI?\u201d but rather:<\/span><\/p>\nHow do we ensure that digital systems remain ordered to the human person, to authentic work, to truth, and to the common good?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nGrounded in CST and Pope Leo XIV’s 2026 Message for the World Day of Social Communications<\/a><\/span>, which declares that \u201cfaces and voices are sacred\u201d\u2014unique expressions of the imago Dei and foundational to human encounter\u2014this article proposes practical, policy-level responses that public institutions and faith-driven leaders can credibly advance.<\/span><\/p>\nWhy Catholic Social Teaching Offers a Distinctive Framework<\/span><\/h2>\n
Unlike approaches that frame AI governance primarily through privacy law, intellectual property, or market competition, CST begins with the non-negotiable dignity of the human person.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nProtecting human likeness in the age of AI is not a technical problem requiring only technical solutions. It is a civilizational question about what we believe human beings are\u2014and what kinds of social structures honor that truth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThis shift in starting point leads to different questions – not merely “Who owns this data?” but rather “Does this technology serve authentic human flourishing?”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThe following eight proposals translate this person-centered vision into concrete institutional responses\u2014recognizing that technology is never neutral, but is always either ordered toward or against the common good.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n1. Treat Face and Voice As Extensions of the Person\u2014Not Digital Property<\/span><\/h2>\n
Following the teaching of Pope Leo XIV<\/strong>, public institutions should treat biometric likeness (face, voice, body, gestures) as person-linked goods, not as ordinary, commodifiable data.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPolicy responses<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Pray for Balance: Establish a distinct legal category for human likeness and identity data<\/em><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Prohibit default or blanket licensing of one\u2019s likeness<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Require explicit, revocable, informed consent for any synthetic reuse<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This upholds CST\u2019s core, anthropological principle that the human person is never a means to an end. (Rerum Novarum)<\/a> (Centesimus Annus)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2. Enshrine a \u201cRight Not to Be Digitally Replicated\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n
CST consistently emphasizes that dignity must be protected not only socially, but structurally.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPope Leo XIV warns that AI simulation risks appropriating faces and voices, fabricating parallel realities, and eroding trust in human communication. (Message for the World Day of Social Communications)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nConcrete proposal<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Establish a civil right:<\/span><\/span>\n
\n- to refuse digital replication,<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- to withdraw consent at any time, and<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- to demand deletion of trained likeness models (model erasure)<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This affirms CST\u2019s understanding of personal freedom as a moral good rooted in the person\u2014not market dynamics.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n3. Protect Workers, Especially Vulnerable Young Talent, From Coercive AI Contracts<\/span><\/h2>\n
Actors, particularly emerging and young performers, face pressures to surrender likeness rights perpetually or post-mortem. This represents a classic CST labor exploitation concern, not merely an intellectual property issue.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPublic institutions should:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Prohibit perpetual or post-mortem digital likeness contracts,<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Require time-limited, purpose-specific agreements with fair, per-reuse compensation.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Note: California\u2019s AB 2602<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(effective 2025), which voids non-consensual or vague digital replica provisions in performer contracts, and AB 1836, establishing post-mortem protections, provide workable models that could be extended through international agreements.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nThis flows directly from the CST principle of the dignity of work<\/a> <\/span>and the priority of labor (the person) over capital. (Rerum Novarum)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n4. Regulate Generative AI Under a \u201cHuman Dignity Impact Assessment\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n
This CST judges technology by its impact on human flourishing\/integral human development. (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis)<\/a> (Caritas in Veritate)<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nA practical tool:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Require AI systems that manipulate identity (voice, face, body) to undergo a human dignity impact assessment, similar to environmental or financial risk reviews.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Assessment criteria could include:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n- Does this technology replace human presence?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Does it undermine trust, consent, or personal agency?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Does it create structural pressure on vulnerable groups? (E.g., young performers or marginalized communities)?<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Such an approach mirrors CST\u2019s call for Integral Human Development (Pope St. John Paul II, 43)<\/a><\/span> and could include independent oversight bodies, potentially including ethicists informed by CST and connected to Vatican initiatives. (e.g., Rome Call for AI Ethics<\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n5. Require Unmistakable Disclosure of Synthetic Persons<\/span><\/h2>\n
Truth is non-negotiable in CST. Pope Leo XIV explicitly warns against deception made possible through deepfakes and digital simulation.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nInstitutions should mandate:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Clear visual and audible labeling of AI-generated faces and voices,<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Universal watermarking and provenance tracking for synthetic media.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This safeguards the common good and sustains social trust\u2014preserving what might be called the moral ecology of communication, the shared foundation that makes truthful human encounter possible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n6. Treat Non-consensual Deepfake Abuse As A Violation of Personal Dignity<\/span><\/h2>\n
CST evaluates harm holistically\u2014beyond economic or reputational damage. Pope Leo XIV highlights deepfakes as violations of privacy, intimacy, and human dignity, including fraud, cyberbullying, and sexualized content. (Message for the World Day of Social Communications)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPublic policy should recognize:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Non-consensual deepfakes as direct assaults on personal integrity, and<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Enable stronger civil remedies, expedited platform takedowns, and proportionate penalties.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n7. Promote International Coordination Grounded in Human Dignity<\/span><\/h2>\n
CST\u2019s principle of solidarity requires preventing a \u201crace to the bottom\u201d in biometric and generative AI standards.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nPublic authorities should support:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Cross-border standards addressing likeness misuse,<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Shared enforcement and common legal definitions, and<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Cooperation with Vatican initiatives (e.g., Dicastery for Communication collaborations).<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/span><\/p>\n8. Mobilize Catholic Institutions and Civil Society For Public Formation and Positive Guidance<\/span><\/h2>\n
While the previous seven proposals address public policy and legal frameworks, lasting cultural change requires formation and witness. The Church\u2019s distinctive role is cultural and educational, fostering integral human development. (Caritas in Veritate)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\nRealistic actions include:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n- Coordinated teaching on digital dignity\u2014explaining why face and voice are sacred extensions of the person, not neutral data.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Formation programs for Catholic educators, employers, media leaders, and policymakers.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Integration into diocesan school curricula and university ethics courses.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Partnerships with Pontifical Academies and Dicasteries.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Encouragement of voluntary industry codes among Catholic business networks (aligned with FCAPP\u2019s mission).<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n
- Balanced and positive promotion of AI that enhances (rather than replaces) human creativity and authentic work.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
<\/span><\/p>\nMoving Forward: From Principle to Practice<\/span><\/h2>\n
The question before us is not whether AI will continue to develop. It is whether it will develop in ways that recognize faces and voices as sacred\u2014or treat them as raw material for extraction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\nOur response will shape not only markets and regulations, but the moral imagination of the next generation. Will they inherit a world that honors the sacred or one that treats it as ‘tradeable’?<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Mia Zelu is one example of many virtual influencers created with generative AI. The Instagram account has 245K followers as of this article.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Generative AI technologies now enable the creation of synthetic humans indistinguishable from real persons\u2014raising unprecedented questions about identity, consent, and human dignity. We face urgent ethical and social risks\u2014highlighted by recent AI apps that generate synthetic bodies, faces, and voices, and by pressures on (esp. young) actors to permanently surrender their likeness.<\/span><\/p>\n How should public institutions and those committed to Catholic Social Teaching (CST) respond to these emerging violations of human dignity and justice?<\/span><\/p>\n From the CST standpoint, the response is not: \u201cHow do we regulate AI?\u201d but rather:<\/span><\/p>\n How do we ensure that digital systems remain ordered to the human person, to authentic work, to truth, and to the common good?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Grounded in CST and Pope Leo XIV’s 2026 Message for the World Day of Social Communications<\/a><\/span>, which declares that \u201cfaces and voices are sacred\u201d\u2014unique expressions of the imago Dei and foundational to human encounter\u2014this article proposes practical, policy-level responses that public institutions and faith-driven leaders can credibly advance.<\/span><\/p>\n Protecting human likeness in the age of AI is not a technical problem requiring only technical solutions. It is a civilizational question about what we believe human beings are\u2014and what kinds of social structures honor that truth.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n This shift in starting point leads to different questions – not merely “Who owns this data?” but rather “Does this technology serve authentic human flourishing?”<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The following eight proposals translate this person-centered vision into concrete institutional responses\u2014recognizing that technology is never neutral, but is always either ordered toward or against the common good.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Policy responses<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Pope Leo XIV warns that AI simulation risks appropriating faces and voices, fabricating parallel realities, and eroding trust in human communication. (Message for the World Day of Social Communications)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Concrete proposal<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Public institutions should:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n This flows directly from the CST principle of the dignity of work<\/a> <\/span>and the priority of labor (the person) over capital. (Rerum Novarum)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n A practical tool:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Institutions should mandate:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Public policy should recognize:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Public authorities should support:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Realistic actions include:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Our response will shape not only markets and regulations, but the moral imagination of the next generation. Will they inherit a world that honors the sacred or one that treats it as ‘tradeable’?<\/span><\/p>\nWhy Catholic Social Teaching Offers a Distinctive Framework<\/span><\/h2>\n
Unlike approaches that frame AI governance primarily through privacy law, intellectual property, or market competition, CST begins with the non-negotiable dignity of the human person.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n1. Treat Face and Voice As Extensions of the Person\u2014Not Digital Property<\/span><\/h2>\n
Following the teaching of Pope Leo XIV<\/strong>, public institutions should treat biometric likeness (face, voice, body, gestures) as person-linked goods, not as ordinary, commodifiable data.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
This upholds CST\u2019s core, anthropological principle that the human person is never a means to an end. (Rerum Novarum)<\/a> (Centesimus Annus)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n2. Enshrine a \u201cRight Not to Be Digitally Replicated\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n
CST consistently emphasizes that dignity must be protected not only socially, but structurally.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
\n
This affirms CST\u2019s understanding of personal freedom as a moral good rooted in the person\u2014not market dynamics.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n3. Protect Workers, Especially Vulnerable Young Talent, From Coercive AI Contracts<\/span><\/h2>\n
Actors, particularly emerging and young performers, face pressures to surrender likeness rights perpetually or post-mortem. This represents a classic CST labor exploitation concern, not merely an intellectual property issue.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Note: California\u2019s AB 2602<\/a><\/span>\u00a0(effective 2025), which voids non-consensual or vague digital replica provisions in performer contracts, and AB 1836, establishing post-mortem protections, provide workable models that could be extended through international agreements.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n4. Regulate Generative AI Under a \u201cHuman Dignity Impact Assessment\u201d<\/span><\/h2>\n
This CST judges technology by its impact on human flourishing\/integral human development. (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis)<\/a> (Caritas in Veritate)<\/a> <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Assessment criteria could include:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Such an approach mirrors CST\u2019s call for Integral Human Development (Pope St. John Paul II, 43)<\/a><\/span> and could include independent oversight bodies, potentially including ethicists informed by CST and connected to Vatican initiatives. (e.g., Rome Call for AI Ethics<\/a>)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n5. Require Unmistakable Disclosure of Synthetic Persons<\/span><\/h2>\n
Truth is non-negotiable in CST. Pope Leo XIV explicitly warns against deception made possible through deepfakes and digital simulation.<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n
This safeguards the common good and sustains social trust\u2014preserving what might be called the moral ecology of communication, the shared foundation that makes truthful human encounter possible.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n6. Treat Non-consensual Deepfake Abuse As A Violation of Personal Dignity<\/span><\/h2>\n
CST evaluates harm holistically\u2014beyond economic or reputational damage. Pope Leo XIV highlights deepfakes as violations of privacy, intimacy, and human dignity, including fraud, cyberbullying, and sexualized content. (Message for the World Day of Social Communications)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
7. Promote International Coordination Grounded in Human Dignity<\/span><\/h2>\n
CST\u2019s principle of solidarity requires preventing a \u201crace to the bottom\u201d in biometric and generative AI standards.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
8. Mobilize Catholic Institutions and Civil Society For Public Formation and Positive Guidance<\/span><\/h2>\n
While the previous seven proposals address public policy and legal frameworks, lasting cultural change requires formation and witness. The Church\u2019s distinctive role is cultural and educational, fostering integral human development. (Caritas in Veritate)<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n
Moving Forward: From Principle to Practice<\/span><\/h2>\n
The question before us is not whether AI will continue to develop. It is whether it will develop in ways that recognize faces and voices as sacred\u2014or treat them as raw material for extraction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n