Pope Leo XIV releases encyclical on AI's societal impact, partnering with Anthropic's Christopher Olah

Pope Leo XIV unveiled an encyclical letter titled Magnifica Humanitas addressing artificial intelligence's implications for human rights, opportunities, status and freedom. The document was presented alongside Anthropic cofounder and interpretability team lead Christopher Olah, representing a partnership between the Catholic Church and Anthropic.

The encyclical emphasizes protecting human dignity in the age of AI rather than technical specifics. It notably made no mention of AGI or superintelligence, stating instead that AI systems may 'often surpass human intelligence in speed and computational capacity' but 'lack the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.' The pope compared AI to the Tower of Babel, warning against 'the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences,' and 'the pretense that a single language — even a digital one — can translate everything.'

Critics and supporters disagreed on the document's scope. Some tech figures wished it engaged more seriously with AGI risks, while others viewed it as appropriately focused on real-world AI impacts on vulnerable communities today. Sacha Haworth of the Tech Oversight Project called it 'a warning shot for leaders, for politicians' addressing systemic risks from concentrated AI power, including the potential creation of 'a sub-class.'