Pope Leo XIV Calls for the ‘Disarmament’ of AI in New Encyclical targeting Big Tech
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A Call for Digital Disarmament
In a sweeping critique of the current trajectory of artificial intelligence, Pope Leo XIV has issued his first encyclical, warning that the technology risks becoming a tool of extreme inequality and a threat to democratic stability. The 83-page document, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), frames the rise of AI not merely as a technical shift, but as a second Industrial Revolution that requires a fundamental moral realignment.
The central thesis of the document is the concept of “disarming” AI. According to the Pope, this does not mean abandoning the technology, but rather stripping it of its current alignment with aggressive military and economic interests. Leo argues that the current “armed competition” in the AI sector—driven by a race for geopolitical and commercial dominance—is creating a cognitive and economic phenomenon that threatens to dominate humanity rather than serve it.
“Merely regulating it is insufficient; it must be disarmed, welcoming and accessible,” the encyclical states, suggesting that current legislative efforts may be too superficial to counter the systemic power held by a few global entities.
Targeting the Concentration of Power
The Pope spent a significant portion of the text taking direct aim at the concentration of power within Silicon Valley. He warns that when the future of human livelihood is steered by a small group of wealthy individuals and corporations, the gap between the “digitally empowered” and the marginalized will become an unbridgeable chasm.
Leo writes that AI inherently amplifies the influence of those who already possess the requisite data, expertise, and capital. This concentration, he argues, allows a narrow elite to shape global information patterns and influence democratic processes to their own advantage, effectively undermining social justice and international solidarity.
During the presentation of the document at the Vatican’s Synod Hall, Leo explicitly referenced the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, written by his namesake Pope Leo III to address the labor crises of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution. By drawing this parallel, the current Pope positions the AI crisis as a historic pivot point where the church must once again intervene to protect the worker and the marginalized from the machinery of profit.
The Anthropic Connection and Ethical Constraints
The event took an unusual turn with the presence of Chris Olah, co-founder of Anthropic. The American AI company, known for its safety-first approach and the development of the Claude LLM, has positioned itself as a more ethical alternative to its peers. Olah’s presence alongside Vatican prelates signaled a rare intersection between high-level theology and frontier AI labs.
Speaking at the event, Olah acknowledged the tension between commercial success and ethical development, noting that AI progress often operates within a set of incentives that “can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing.” He cited geopolitical pressure and corporate ambition as primary drivers that necessitate external oversight from religious communities and civil society.
However, the Pope remained cautious even regarding “constitutional AI” frameworks like those used by Anthropic. He argued that a “more moral AI” is insufficient if that morality is defined by a small group of engineers and executives rather than through a shared, global sense of social justice.
Preserving the Human Essence
Beyond the economics of Big Tech, Magnifica Humanitas delves into the psychological risks of AI integration. Leo expressed concern that the ubiquity of AI agents might not only deceive users into believing they are interacting with humans but could eventually erode the human desire to seek genuine interpersonal connection.
The document warns that delegating decision-making to machines encourages a reliance on “ready-made answers,” which the Pope believes will weaken personal judgment and creativity. He specifically pushed back against the Silicon Valley allure of transhumanism—the belief that technology should be used to surpass human biological limitations—viewing it as a rejection of the inherent dignity of the human person.
The Pope concluded that responsibility must be embedded into the construction of AI models, rather than applied as an afterthought. He asserted that calling for a slower pace of adoption is not an opposition to progress, but an act of “responsible care for the human family.”
