Pope Leo XIV has issued his first official piece of religious guidance to billions of Catholics. And it's all about AI. It came in the form of a 42,300-word papal encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Magnificent Humanity"). Encyclicals aren't papal law, exactly, but act as authoritative guidance on social and moral issues for members of the Catholic Church. This one, the first since Leo was chosen, came with even more pomp and circumstance than usual, with the leader himself attending its presentation alongside Anthropic founder Chris Olah. Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creator today!
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The Pope has spoken previously about regulating AI, imploring industry leaders to more carefully consider the ethical implications of AI in their work. Last May, when explaining why he chose the name Leo, the pope specifically cited AI as one of his primary reasons."There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour."The encyclical goes further, diving into AI's impact on jobs, education, and child safety in a message to leaders around the world. "We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend," Olah said. "Today is just the beginning — the start of a long collaboration between those of us who are building this and those who can see what we, from the inside, cannot."Here are the main takeaways from the Holy See:
