{"id":679445,"date":"2026-05-18T21:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679445\/"},"modified":"2026-05-18T21:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:49:08","slug":"pope-leo-to-issue-text-on-human-dignity-and-ai-with-anthropic-co-founder-pope-leo-xiv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/679445\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo to issue text on human dignity and AI with Anthropic co-founder | Pope Leo XIV"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the first major text of his papacy, Pope Leo<\/a> will address the rapid rise of artificial intelligence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Chicago-born pontiff will present the document, known as an encyclical, at the Vatican<\/a> next week during an event attended by Christopher Olah, the co-founder of Anthropic \u2013 a US-based AI firm that has clashed with Donald Trump\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n

The encyclical will address \u201cthe protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence\u201d, the Vatican said on Monday.<\/p>\n

In a break from tradition, Leo, who was elected pontiff in May last year, will launch the document during a public presentation on 25 May. He will be joined by lay speaker Olah of Anthropic, which is in the middle of a high-profile lawsuit<\/a> with the Trump administration over the ethics of AI, as well as theologians Anna Rowlands and L\u00e9ocadie Lushombo.<\/p>\n

Encyclicals are one of the highest forms of teaching from a pope to the Catholic church\u2019s 1.4 billion members, and typically outline his priorities while highlighting the major issues in society.<\/p>\n

Leo is expected to consider how AI is affecting workers\u2019 rights while lamenting its use in warfare.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis encyclical is going to be a response to the dazzlingly rapid technological revolution that is happening right now,\u201d said Andrea Vreede, a Vatican correspondent for the Dutch public radio and TV network NOS. \u201cSo he will say things like AI shouldn\u2019t be used in warfare, that is obvious. But he will also try to be positive and offer workable answers to modern challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Vatican said Leo signed the document, which is entitled Magnifica Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity, on 15 May \u2013 135 years after his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, signed his most significant encyclical, which focused on the Industrial Revolution that was under way at the time while addressing workers\u2019 rights and capitalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that Leo signed the document on the same date as Leo XIII signed his encyclical is significant,\u201d said Vreede. \u201cThe 1891 document was a response to the Industrial Revolution, when there were immediate and practical consequences to society, and this one addresses the technological revolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christopher White, the author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy and a senior fellow at Georgetown University\u2019s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, said the Vatican had been seriously engaged on questions surrounding AI for several years now, pointing to regular dialogues with Microsoft, Google and other major technology firms.<\/p>\n

\u201cLeo\u2019s new encyclical is likely to build on that tradition \u2013 not from a perspective of doomerism but one of caution that as technology advances, the human person should be kept at the centre of the discussion,\u201d said White. \u201cLike Pope Francis, Leo will likely raise concern about the dignity of work and the need to ensure that technological advancements don\u2019t override the dignity of workers and their rights. And he\u2019ll likely insist on the need for stringent regulation and a ban on lethal autonomous weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n

Traditionally, a pope\u2019s encyclical is presented by cardinals. While the main presenters will be the Vatican\u2019s top cardinals, doctrine chief Cardinal V\u00edctor Manuel Fern\u00e1ndez and development chief Cardinal Michael Czerny, the fact that lay speakers have been invited \u2013 along with Leo\u2019s attendance \u2013 is also significant.<\/p>\n

Vreede said: \u201cThat\u2019s a very clever strategic communication move, because if the cardinals do it, nobody really listens, but if the pope is there, all the cameras will be there, and we will all listen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the first major text of his papacy, Pope Leo will address the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":679446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-679445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=679445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/679445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/679446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=679445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=679445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=679445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}