Pope Leo released his first encyclical this week. He called it Magnifica Humanitas — or Magnificent Humanity. In it, he compares the swift, irresistible rise of Artificial Intelligence in our lives to the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, which ends with God punishing humans for their hubris.
Though the pope says he welcomes the advances AI can make in medicine, research, and education, when he presented his encyclical at the Vatican, he wrote, bluntly:
"Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed. The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen because this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences and indicating paths forward for humanity."
The encyclical is book-length, and hard to summarize in a concise report. Maybe AI could. But we can read some of Pope Leo's own words.
The pope worries about all the people whose jobs are likely to be, and are already being, replaced by AI, and reminds us that work gives human beings a sense of purpose.
"Work is not simply an instrument," he writes. "The pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs. The economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good."
Pope Leo also argues that all the data and information AI amasses in such fantastic amounts still doesn't equal the understanding people can develop by living: through joy, loss, fear, accomplishment and human connection.
AI systems "may imitate language, behavior and analytical skills, or even simulate empathy and understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom… through choices, mistakes, forgiveness and fidelity."
A chat bot can absorb and impersonate human expressions, sending out "words of advice, empathy, friendship and even love," which, the Pope writes, can be engaging and at times genuinely helpful.
"However," he cautions, "it can also be misleading, creating the illusion of a relationship," which can make those who feel lonely and anxious — and don't we all sometimes? — most vulnerable to being fooled.
The question Pope Leo's encyclical asks us to keep in mind is: will human beings use Artificial Intelligence to enrich not just world economies, but all of humanity?
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