Technologists Dismiss Pope Leo XIV's 42,300-Word AI Warning to 1.4 Billion Catholics
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Technologists Dismiss Pope Leo XIV's 42,300-Word AI Warning to 1.4 Billion Catholics
10 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 26
Pope Leo XIV used a 42,300-word open letter to 1.4 billion Catholics to urge protections against artificial intelligence, but technologists in San Francisco's A.I. hub largely rejected his framing.
Jeremy Nixon, 33, founder of A.G.I. House, said Leo and Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah were "far from aligned," arguing the Vatican event exposed fundamentally different views of whether A.I. is distinct from humanity.
That divide reflects a long-running split between humanist concerns about A.I.'s risks and Bay Area ambitions for artificial general intelligence—machines that could match the human brain across tasks.
Leo's inclusion of Olah as a symbol of dialogue underscored the Vatican's effort to engage the industry, but the reaction from A.G.I. circles suggested that common ground remains limited.
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