Pope opposes the use of artificial intelligence for military purposes
The Vatican announced that on May 25, Pope Leo XIV will present his first encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" ("Great Humanity"). The document is dedicated to protecting human dignity in the era of rapid artificial intelligence development. Contrary to tradition, the pontiff will present this document in person. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports.
Christopher Olah, one of the founders of Anthropic, will participate as a special speaker at the presentation. Olah is a leading expert at the company in understanding the mechanisms of neural networks and studying their "black box" principle. The event will also feature speeches by Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.
According to Reuters, the encyclical strongly condemns the use of artificial intelligence algorithms for military purposes. The Pope called wars waged with the help of neural networks a "spiral of destruction," assessing it as a dangerous evolution for humanity. The document also contains warnings about the negative impact of automation on workers' rights.
Leo XIV signed this document on May 15. The date was not chosen by chance: it coincides with the 135th anniversary of the "Rerum novarum" encyclical, which protected workers' rights during the Industrial Revolution in 1891. The pontiff compares the current artificial intelligence revolution with the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, demonstrating the Church's firm position on this matter.
