Pope Leo XIV publishes encyclical on AI that focuses on power concentration and inequality rather than AI-specific risks

Pope Leo XIV released a 200-page encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas on Monday, presented alongside Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, addressing 'safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.' The document argues that technology built and governed by a small elite cannot serve the common good.

The encyclical identifies power concentration as the core problem: when power is concentrated in few hands, it becomes 'opaque and evade[s] public oversight,' and AI 'tends to amplify the power of those who already possess economic resources, expertise and access to data.' Leo called for AI to be guided by 'clear criteria and effective oversight' grounded in participation from affected communities and an end to the AI arms race.

Pope Leo XIV frames these dynamics as not new to AI but amplified by it—drawing a parallel to Pope Leo XIII's 1891 Rerum Novarum, which addressed power concentration during the Industrial Revolution. Notre Dame Law School professor Paolo Carozza stated that AI-driven misinformation and deepfakes have 'corroded our capacity to recognize what's true and what's not true,' with consequences for democratic politics.