Pontificating AI

According to a report by The New York Times, Pope Leo XIV has issued a massive, 42,300-word papal encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Magnificent Humanity") that serves as a powerful warning against the misuse and overuse of artificial intelligence. Formally signed on the 135th anniversary of the landmark labor encyclical "Rerum Novarum", this modern document focuses heavily on protecting human dignity and worker employment from being systematically sacrificed for corporate profits. In a highly symbolic gesture of spiritual and technological dialogue, the Pope presented the encyclical alongside Christopher Olah, a co-founder of the major AI developer Anthropic, who welcomed the moral guidance for an industry often dictated by bending incentives. The text reads like a comprehensive policy paper, calling for strict government regulation of private tech firms, robust retraining programs for displaced workers, critical tech education for students, digital safeguards to protect children from AI-generated fake or sexualized content, and rigorous ethical constraints to ensure humans retain sole responsibility for autonomous weapons.