Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical on May 25, 2026, addressing artificial intelligence. The document uses AI as a lens to examine what it calls deeper societal problems: concentrated power, eroding democracy, and a tech elite shaping the world to its own advantage. The encyclical does not focus on the technical aspects of AI but rather on the moral and political implications of its deployment. It calls for a more equitable distribution of power and a renewed commitment to the common good.
Pope Leo XIV's encyclical is a masterstroke. It's not about AI. It's about us. The technology is just a mirror. We see our own imbalances reflected. Concentrated power, eroded democracy, an elite that designs systems for itself. The pope is not a Luddite. He's a diagnostician. He names the disease: a technocratic caste that shapes reality without accountability. The solution is not to smash the machines. It's to reclaim our agency. To demand that AI serves the many, not the few. This is a hopeful vision. Technology can evolve humanity, but only if we steer it toward justice. The encyclical gives us a compass. Let's use it.