The Pope's AI Encyclical Is More About Power Than Technology
Original: The pope’s AI encyclical isn’t really about AI
Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical uses AI to critique concentrated power, eroding democracy, and the influence of the tech elite.
Pope Leo XIV's inaugural encyclical addresses artificial intelligence not merely as a technological shift, but as a lens to critique systemic global issues. The document warns against the extreme concentration of power and wealth within a small tech elite. Ultimately, it frames AI as a threat to democratic institutions and human agency when left unchecked by moral governance.
Pope Leo XIV has issued the first encyclical of his pontificate. Although this document ostensibly focuses on artificial intelligence (AI), it is essentially not a technical guide but a profound social and political critique. The encyclical uses AI as a mirror to diagnose and reveal the systemic problems that have long existed in human society and are increasingly worsening, including the high concentration of power, the erosion of democratic institutions, and how a small number of tech elites use their technological advantages to reshape the world for their own benefit.
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