Pope Leo invokes Gandalf, urges AI disarmament
▼ Summary
– Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” calls for AI to be “disarmed” to serve the common good.
– The document critiques AI-powered autonomous weapons, neo-colonial data collection, and the hoarding of digital property like patents and algorithms.
– It updates Catholic social teaching for the AI age, urging a “building” of a “civilization of love” where technology serves humanity.
– The encyclical was signed on May 15, the anniversary of the 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which addressed capitalist upheaval.
– Leo warns that humans must not be left behind by technological advancements, comparing the influence of tech elites to colonial conquerors.
With Anthropic’s co-founder present in Rome today, Pope Leo XIV issued his first major encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”), calling for a global AI disarmament to prioritize the common good. The pontiff acknowledges the term is strong but explains he chose “disarmament” deliberately “because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences, and indicating paths forward for humanity.” He insists that artificial intelligence must be “freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion, and death.”
The 40,000-word document delivers sharp critiques of AI-powered autonomous weapons, exploitative data collection practices reminiscent of neo-colonialism, and the hoarding of what it calls “new forms of property, such as patents, algorithms, digital platforms, technological infrastructure, and data.” Yet the encyclical moves beyond condemnation, updating Catholic social teaching for the digital era by urging everyone to “build”,a term Silicon Valley elites like venture capitalist Marc Andreessen popularized in his 2020 essay “It’s Time to Build.”
For Leo, “building” transcends code, startups, factories, or housing. He envisions the creation of a “civilization of love” where individuals contribute to the common good within their own spheres, and where technology serves humanity rather than dominating, excluding, or bypassing it. This vision explains why Leo signed the encyclical on May 15, the anniversary of the landmark 1891 document “Rerum Novarum” (“New Things”), which established Catholic social teaching amid capitalist upheaval and largely sided with workers and unions. Today, he updates that teaching for the age of AI, calling it the “res novae of our time.”
Like his predecessor 135 years ago, Leo warns that individuals and humanity itself must not be left behind by technological advancements or new forms of power. He is clear-eyed about the sway of technological elites, comparing them to colonial conquerors.
(Source: Ars Technica)
