Pope Leo XIV issues encyclical 'Magnifica humanitas,' calling for the disarming of AI and moral support for displaced workers; Chris Olah warns 'don't trust us.'

In his groundbreaking encyclical, 'Magnifica humanitas', Pope Leo XIV urged the disarmament of AI technologies, condemning their use in warfare. He emphasized the profound moral responsibility to assist displaced workers, asserting, "supporting those displaced will be a moral imperative of historic proportions." Chris Olah, cofounder of Anthropic, echoed this sentiment during the Vatican presentation, marking a pivotal movement within the Church towards confronting the societal effects of AI. Olah warned about the concentration of AI development in wealthier nations, asserting that "every leading AI lab, his own included, operates inside commercial, geopolitical and personal pressures that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing." He called for vigilant oversight, since “AI decisions should not be left to people in the industry.” The Pope's encyclical, described as an extensive and moral clarion call, critiques the underlying exploitative mechanisms in AI development. He notes that the increasing automation could lead to “new digital slaveries,” urging a collective reflection and action to forge a more equitable digital future.

Pope Leo XIV's encyclical 'Magnifica humanitas' calls for disarming AI and addressing the moral implications of job displacement. Emphasizing support for affected workers, he warned of 'new digital slaveries.' Anthropic's Chris Olah highlighted the urgency, stressing that AI decisions shouldn't remain solely within industry confines.