ope Leo XIV's widely expected manifesto on AI delivered a very clear set of recommendations that some call naive, while others characterize as courageous.
On Monday, the Pope's 44,000-word encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity) was released to the public in eight languages, and the Pope made the rare move of summarizing it in a formal presentation that was livestreamed from the Vatican.
What the Pope delivered was perhaps broader in scope than expected and showed greater technical literacy. He has been working with a study group on AI and reportedly consulted with scientists, technologists, theologians, moral philosophers, researchers, and business executives. Leo XIV is also the first pope known to personally use a smartphone and an Apple Watch, and the first pope from America, where he earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Villanova.
When he was elected pope a year ago, he intentionally chose the name Leo XIV to associate himself with Leo XIII, who famously confronted the Industrial Revolution with his 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum (“Of New Things”), calling for the protection of workers and the need for collaboration between capital and labor. It became a catalyst for the labor movement. Leo XIV has publicly compared the current AI boom to the Industrial Revolution and has been building toward confronting the AI industry since he took office a year ago.
Here's a summary of the most prominent recommendations in his manifesto:
AI for lethal force should be outlawed: The encyclical warns against autonomous weapons and AI-driven military decisions, arguing that life-or-death choices should never be handed to algorithms.AI should not concentrate power: Unlike past technologies that governments controlled, today private tech giants control data, algorithms, and digital infrastructure in ways that can shape politics, culture, and even people’s understanding of truth. He calls for practical regulation, oversight, transparency, and treating data as a shared resource rather than something owned by a handful of corporations.Protect truth, kids, and education: Disinformation, deepfakes, algorithm-driven outrage, and addictive content are eroding democracy and harming young people's mental health. He urges parents, schools, and governments to form an educational alliance, push for age limits, and hold platforms accountable.Human dignity should be valued over efficiency: The ultimate solution Leo advocates is a society built on justice, solidarity, truth, care for the vulnerable, and the deepening of human relationships. He says technology should strengthen humanity, not weaken it.Humanity should recognize its choice: The Pope framed this moment as a decision between building technology for profit, pride, and dominance or building it together for the common good. He emphasized that technology isn't neutral, but reflects the values of the people who design, fund, and use it.
The most prominent member of the tech community to attend the event was Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, a self-described atheist. Olah also addressed the audience after the Pope, saying, "We need more of the world—religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments, and indeed all people of good will—to … take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction. We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing. We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend."
Our Deeper View #
Pope Leo XIV's recommendations on how we can best shape AI to serve the interests of all humanity are clearer and more comprehensive than anything that has come from AI labs, governments, or nonprofit organizations. Certainly, no one I know expected that out of this document. It follows OpenAI's call for an "AI New Deal," in which it advocated for broader public discourse on the future of AI. And just last week, Anthropic gathered leaders from 15 religious and cross-cultural groups to discuss the moral foundations of AI. I'll admit my skepticism toward the actions of OpenAI and Anthropic, since they are also trying to win over a skeptical public. As Anthropic's Olah mentioned, we need more voices in the important conversations ahead about governing AI. We can't afford to have the debate dominated by those whose primary incentives are financial.