I cannot believe I am saying this but I think I’ve never agreed with anyone more than Pope Leo in my life before. As an atheist, I can comfortably say that I am not the biggest fan of religion and what it stands for as a principle, although I appreciate the mythology of them. But the manifesto Pope Leo came up with is simply impressive, especially in an era where AI and the ambitious capitalist ideology wrapped in atheism gets more and more popular in contrast to Christianity. With the techno age (!) we are in, I find it refreshing to see an institution openly criticizing the “hot topic”as itself gets to age like milk.

The encyclical opens with a comparison, which I appreciated from a literary perspective. It explains the construction of the Tower of Babel and the reconstruction of Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. The reason it explains these myths is because they create a clear cut understanding of how a society is supposed to be built. While with the Tower of Babel vanity comes forward, along with uniformity over communion; the actually successful project, the reconstruction of Jerusalem ic achieved through mutual understanding, communication and efforts of a community. One can entertain these as stories, without the need of religiosity; and I think it loses none of its impact. This comparison really is true, that for constructing, for building, for developing people should come together.

After this great opening, the general understanding of the encyclical builds upon the redundancy of saying yes or no to AI. It emphasizes how the way AI is built, it can neither be neutral nor natural. It can and should never replace the values humanity is built on and with, and how these values are non negotiable. It even deals with the controversy around AI making human life easier. I liked that the emphasis on effort here, AI can automize tasks but even so, it eliminates the beauty in effort and even changes its meaning along with its standards.

The only thing I would criticize about this encyclical would be that it does not say directly no to AI. I believe it to be incredibly inharmonious with everything that is “human” and I can see no upsides to it. But then again, hey good job church, I guess! Also, I cannot help but mention how Pope Leo cited Tolkien, like what? Are you trying to recruit cool, fantasy-geek atheists?

“It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.”