Pope Leo XIV will issue his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” on Monday, staking the Vatican’s position in the intensifying debate over artificial intelligence and human dignity. The letter arrives amid rising concern about AI’s environmental, social and educational impacts and follows the pope’s creation of a commission to study the technology’s effects. Drawing on the Church’s social teaching and echoing Leo XIII’s “Rerum Novarum,” the document is expected to reject AI personhood and call for guardrails that place human welfare at the center. Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah will appear at the launch, signaling Silicon Valley’s engagement with religious voices even as theologians question Big Tech’s ambitions. The move underscores the Church’s bid to influence global norms shaping policy and industry practices around AI.
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