On Monday, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. At roughly 42,300 words, the document is a sweeping open letter warning of the risks and ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence.
Papal encyclicals aren’t typically known for provoking controversy. But Pope Leo’s decision to grapple with one of the most powerful and least understood technologies of our age has inspired intense debate. Matthew Walther, editor of Catholic literary journal The Lamp, called it “disappointingly measured and cautious.” AI safety researcher and blogger Zvi Mowshowitz criticized the pope’s assertion that AI cannot truly think. Others, including critics, developers, and religious leaders, praised the encyclical for the breadth and seriousness of its approach.
These subjects aren’t relevant to Catholics alone; indeed, we wrestle with them every day here at The Free Press. So we were thrilled to learn that Free Press columnist Arthur Brooks was invited to write the foreword for the English edition of the encyclical, published by Ascension Press. Today, we’re sharing an adapted version of the foreword, in which Arthur reflects on the pope’s lessons during a moment of profound technological change. For more, tune in to Arthur’s live conversation with Father Mike Schmitz Wednesday, 8 p.m. ET, about artificial intelligence, human dignity, meaning, and the future of humanity. —The Editors
There’s an expression that artificial intelligence developers in California use to refer to their work: “Building God.” In fact, one of them, Avital Balwit, the chief of staff to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, just did so in a May 22 essay for The Free Press. The use of the phrase, she wrote, is intended as a form of sardonic humor, acknowledging the awesome power and potential consequences of AI.
But is it a joke, really? The timing of Balwit’s piece was serendipitous, for only three days after it was published, Pope Leo XIV made headlines around the world for writing about artificial intelligence. On Monday, he issued his first encyclical—a major papal declaration on contemporary issues that is intended to guide the Catholic Church—titled Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence.
AI, Leo writes, isn’t the first time people have tried to build something godlike. Indeed, he opens his encyclical with the biblical story from Genesis of the Tower of Babel, which was a human attempt to reach “to the heavens.” What was the builders’ motivation? By their own account, “so that we may make a name for ourselves.”
