Episcopal priest urges Protestants to engage with Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on AI and economic power
By
Michael DeLashmutt
Baker's choice. Dense with flavour, light on filler.
Summary
Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," identifies artificial intelligence as the defining "new thing" of our age, but extends its critique beyond AI itself to the broader economic and social structures that produced it. The article, written by an Episcopal priest and theology professor, argues that Protestants should engage with this papal document because it challenges concentrated economic power and raises questions about justice, human dignity, and the moral order underlying technological development. The encyclical suggests that the traditional state-versus-market framework is no longer adequate for addressing modern power dynamics.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledPope Leo XIV's first encyclical declares artificial intelligence as the 'rerum novarum,' the 'new thing,' of our age.
While artificial intelligence is the encyclical's stated focus, its analysis reaches far beyond AI itself into the broader social order that created the technology in the first place.
Catholic social teaching has generally assumed that the state served as the primary counterweight to concentrated economic power. 'Magnifica Humanitas' suggests that this arrangement no longer adequately describes reality.
Let me begin by acknowledging that Protestants have historically had a complicated relationship with papal encyclicals.
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