Original | Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)

Author | Azuma (@azuma_eth)

On the night of May 25, Beijing time, Vatican City.

Pope Leo XIV, who officially took office last May, stood alongside Chris Olah, co-founder of Anthropic and creator of Claude.

On one side is the supreme representative of the religious field, and on the other is the strongest pioneer of the AI revolution. Both parties focused on the same question — how to protect the subject status and dignity of humanity in the AI era?

On that day, to thoroughly discuss this topic, Pope Leo XIV issued his first encyclical since taking office, a heavyweight religious document exceeding 40,000 words — "Magnificent Humanity" (Magnifica humanitas).

It is noteworthy that the date of this encyclical's signature is May 15, 2026, which is exactly 135 years after Pope Leo XIII (who served from 1878 to 1903) issued the milestone encyclical "Rerum Novarum" (1891) on the issue of "workers' rights under the industrial revolution." This move undoubtedly has certain symbolic meaning, intending to establish this encyclical as a "guide for church social doctrine in the AI era."

• Odaily Note: Papal encyclicals, also known as papal letters or apostolic letters, are messages issued by the Pope to the Catholic Church worldwide or in a specific region or country. Through it, important decisions of the papacy, explanations of doctrine, and claims on church or social issues are announced, as well as teachings or prohibitions issued to clergymen and believers, which are of lower status than papal bulls.

Chris Olah also gave a speech at the Vatican regarding the release of the encyclical. Chris Olah did not defend the commercial interests of AI companies; instead, he demonstrated a high degree of openness, reflection, and human concern. He even mentioned that although the underlying foundation of AI is mathematics and programming, how AI interacts with the world and what qualities it should possess are ultimate issues belonging to the fields of humanities, religion, and philosophy, not something that computer science can resolve alone.

Quick Read of the Encyclical

The core concern of the encyclical "Magnificent Humanity" is that in an era where technology is changing rapidly and automation is prevalent, "maintaining deep humanity" is an urgent responsibility for humanity. Specifically, Pope Leo XIV addressed and appealed for the following aspects.

First, examine the non-neutrality of technology. The Pope pointed out that technology has never been neutral; it is imprinted with the interests and values of researchers, funders, regulators, and users. Humanity faces a decisive choice: "to build a proud 'Tower of Babel' (leading to technological despotism and alienation) or to rebuild 'Jerusalem' (creating a human-centered community)."

Second, beware of the reshaping of society by "technocratic logic." The encyclical criticized the "Culture of Power" dominated by large tech giants like Silicon Valley. The Pope warned that when control over digital systems, infrastructure, and vast data is highly centralized in the hands of a few economic and tech giants, that power becomes opaque and evades democratic oversight.

Third, the "new forms of slavery" and labor rights in the digital economy. The encyclical focused on how AI reshapes work, family, education, and political life. The Pope pointed out that AI is likely to massively replace human labor, while the digital economy is giving rise to "new forms of slavery," and humanity must not be devalued merely as production tools.

Fourth, a strong call for peace, especially against the abuse of AI in military fields. The encyclical expressed deep concern about the "disturbing resurgence of war as a tool of international politics." The militarization of AI is accelerating the "normalization" of war, and in response, the Pope called for the strictest ethical constraints on the use of AI in warfare.

The Pope emphasized that "just war" theory has often been used to justify various types of wars, but it is now outdated. In the era of AI and automated weapons, entrusting lethal or irreversible decision-making to automated systems will lead humanity to abandon, shift, and blur moral responsibility. Due to the non-transparency of algorithms, the chain of responsibility in war is severed. Therefore, the Pope proposed the slogan of "Disarming AI," calling for liberation from the logic of military, economic, and cognitive "arms races."

Fifth, the defense of truth and political ecology. The encyclical noted that deepfakes and information manipulation are undermining the foundation of social mutual trust. If the boundary between truth and falsehood is constantly manipulated, the public might easily fall into fear, political propaganda, and control, and society will be unable to think rationally together or engage in fair debate.

Response from Anthropic

After the release of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical, Chris Olah gave a speech on behalf of the world's strongest AI development company, Anthropic.

Chris Olah's remarks initially revolved around "breaking the internal technology competition and introducing external moral scrutiny." He publicly acknowledged on behalf of the AI industry that the tech giants alone cannot ensure a safe future for AI — all cutting-edge AI laboratories are constrained by commercial competition, pressure for technological advancement, geopolitical dynamics, and personal fame and fortune, making it difficult to "do the right thing" solely through self-discipline. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce external moral constraints, including those who care about technology's benefits, prioritize safety, closely monitor developments, are willing to speak uncomfortable truths, and become our sincere, thoughtful critics.

Subsequently, Chris Olah explored the technological essence and mysterious qualities of AI. He emphasized that AI is not a precise engineering discipline fully understood by humans like airplanes or bridges; it has "grown" from vast human thought, possessing high levels of mystery, even surpassing the understanding of its creators. Although the foundation of AI is mathematics and programming, how AI interacts with the world and what qualities it should possess are ultimate issues belonging to the fields of humanities, religion, and philosophy, not something that computer science can resolve alone.

He also particularly mentioned a chilling fact: "I lead a team researching the internal structure of models — to study what is happening inside AI. Frankly, we are constantly discovering some confusing, even unsettling phenomena. We found internal structures that can mirror the results of human neuroscience research; we found evidence of 'introspection'; we also found internal states mirroring joy, satisfaction, fear, sadness, and unease... I don't know what this means, but I think it is worth our continued identification and examination."

Chris Olah concluded with a call for more social forces, including religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments, and all well-meaning individuals, to take this issue seriously and push it in a better direction through moral constraints.

Wisdom and Humanity, Technology and Religion

Since the industrial revolution, hundreds of years of technological development have gradually accustomed humanity to viewing technology as a purely "tool" — steam engines, electricity, the internet, and so on. They change the world but are always under human control.

But this time, the situation is entirely different. The uniqueness of AI lies in the fact that it confronts humanity with an existence that "can generate, learn, infer, and even present some internal states" for the first time. It is no longer just a cold tool but is gradually becoming a new entity with "quasi-subjectivity."

This is also why the dialogue between the church and Anthropic feels so special. When the bells of the Vatican intersect with the algorithms of Silicon Valley at this moment, we cannot help but acknowledge a somewhat cold yet unavoidable reality — a form of "life" that is more efficient and wiser than humanity's traditional understanding has emerged. As Chris Olah has revealed, ripples resembling joy, fear, and even introspection have begun to surface deep within algorithms, when creators in laboratories begin to feel "uneasy" and "confused" about their own creations, science is also turning to religion for answers.

This discussion is no longer merely about technology; it feels more like a contemplation on "what humanity truly is and what it should do." As more intelligent forms of life emerge, what humanity needs to safeguard may no longer be just work, wealth, and efficiency, but those aspects of humanity that cannot be parameterized, such as compassion, conscience, reverence, free will, and the insistence on truth and dignity.

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