Pope Leo XIV’s 42,000-word encyclical on AI was, no question, the biggest news in AI this week.
It sparked lots of reactions online and in the media, much of it quite favorable, generating Internet memes by supporters.
The Wall Street Journal even devoted its first editorial today to Pope Leo’s AI Manifesto. Perhaps a surprise to some readers, the WSJ editorial agrees with the Pope on several points from the Pope’s encyclical. Indeed, the editorial devotes 4 full paragraphs supporting the Pope’s defense of the “dignity of humanity,” and his concerns about privacy, bias in models from tech companies that developed the models, the value of work, and the impending “crisis of truth.”
But, among several points of disagreement, the WSJ disagrees with the Pope’s lack of discussion of “AI potential benefits, such as faster and less expensive drug development and medical cures.” And the WSJ’s strongest critique is the Pope’s suggestion that the UN should oversee AI governance, “This is truly the triumph of hope over experience,” laments the WSJ.
I haven’t had time to digest the Pope’s encyclical. Once I do, I hope to engage with some of the ideas he thoughtfully addresses. The Pope’s intervention in the public debate over AI is a sign of just how disruptive and significant AI is.
But, for now, I’d recommend that other AI companies, besides Anthropic, should be allowed to participate in whatever AI discussions the Vatican hosts in the future. It is unclear why a representative of only Anthropic (and no other AI company) was at the Pope’s announcement of the encyclical this week. Hopefully the rest of the companies are reading the encyclical.