The deepest challenge AI poses is anthropological. It forces us to ask: What, exactly, makes human beings special? For most of modern history, the implicit answer has been our minds.

WHAT DOES A 2,000-year-old world religion have to say about powerful AI? As it turns out, a lot – more than 42,000 words, give or take, depending on the language in which you are reading the encyclical. Most of the news in the coming days will focus on the optics of the rollout – Anthropic’s leadership being on the dais, there will inevitably be speculation about tensions with the Trump administration. But the real star this week should be the text itself, which is one of the clearest presentations of Catholic Social Teaching in recent memory, and which inaugurates Pope Leo as a powerful and compelling voice in AI ethics.

Get Instant Access

Continue Reading

Register for free to read this article in full

REGISTER

Subscribe for unlimited access

SUBSCRIBE NOW

From just £37.50 quarterly

  Print copy of The Tablet delivered directly to your door.
  Complete access to all Tablet website content including all premium content.
  Access to the weekly digital copy of The Tablet.
  Full access to The Tablet’s archive – over 180 years of back issues.

Already a subscriber? Login