Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical calls for "disarming" artificial intelligence

In late May 2026, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity"), devoted entirely to artificial intelligence. Rather than banning AI, the pontiff calls for slowing its unbridled development and placing human dignity above algorithmic efficiency. The document has sparked a wave of memes, divided commentators, and attracted the attention of Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah.

Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, the most authoritative form of papal teaching, at the end of May 2026, choosing artificial intelligence as the defining challenge of our time. Titled Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity"), the document has already generated enormous debate far beyond the Catholic world, spawning viral memes and drawing responses from Silicon Valley.

What is an encyclical and why does it matter?

An encyclical is a papal letter addressed to bishops, priests and laypeople on major theological, philosophical or social questions. It is not a binding decree but carries immense moral weight. Popes issue them sparingly, Benedict XVI published just three over eight years, Francis four over twelve. The first encyclical a pope releases is particularly significant because it signals his primary concern. Benedict XVI chose love and social justice; Francis chose ecology. Leo XIV chose technology.

The document runs to five chapters and is structured around a central metaphor drawn from the Old Testament: the difference between the Tower of Babel, an impressive feat of engineering driven by ambition, uniformity and the subordination of people to a grand project, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, a communal effort guided by shared purpose and respect for human dignity. The encyclical returns repeatedly to a Kantian question: should we treat human beings as means or ends?

A critique of power, not of technology

Crucially, Leo XIV does not condemn AI itself. He acknowledges that artificial intelligence «does not experience, does not have a body, does not feel joy or pain, does not develop through relationships, and does not know what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean», and is therefore neither malicious nor morally accountable. The problem, he argues, lies not in the technology but in the technocratic paradigm behind it.

Large corporations controlling AI systems can «shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes and direct economic dynamics in their favour, undermining social justice and solidarity among peoples.» The encyclical points to the hidden physical and human costs of AI: vast water consumption, poorly paid data workers, and miners in developing countries, sometimes including children, extracting rare minerals in dangerous conditions.

The pope also flags the risk of AI-driven decision-making in hiring, credit scoring and public services, asking who gets to define what values are embedded in these systems.

"Disarm" AI, what does that mean?

Leo XIV's headline proposal is to «disarm» artificial intelligence. This does not mean switching it off. It means ending the arms-race logic of building ever more powerful systems for its own sake, and rejecting the notion that algorithmic efficiency is the supreme goal of civilisation. He calls for legal frameworks governing AI development, greater transparency in algorithmic decision-making, including in social media feeds and military drones, and an overhaul of education so that children learn from an early age to use AI responsibly. He also argues for shifting the measure of economic progress away from GDP growth toward the wellbeing and dignity of workers.

The encyclical also devotes significant attention to the normalisation of war, arguing that AI-generated content and social media algorithms are deepening societal polarisation and that the defence industry operates on the same «Babylonian» logic of profit and results at the expense of human life.

Silicon Valley reacts

The document's release was unusually notable in the tech world. Chris Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, one of the leading AI companies by valuation, attended the encyclical's presentation in person, thanking the pope for raising the issues. Shortly afterward, Anthropic published statements calling for more careful oversight and even a slowdown in AI development, statements that, while not citing the encyclical directly, are broadly consonant with it.

Other tech giants have stayed silent publicly, which analysts read as a deliberate PR calculation: picking a fight with the Holy See is rarely a good look.

Reactions among commentators have been sharply divided. New York Times columnist Matthew Walther criticised the encyclical as a toothless text that fails to call loudly enough for resistance to AI, while canonist Gerald Murray complained it was excessively left-wing. Others were disappointed by the absence of references to specific ongoing conflicts, or took issue with the document's reiteration of marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Broader significance

Leo XIV himself acknowledges that his goals may seem idealistic. But the encyclical is not a political programme or a technical specification, it is a moral and theological reflection. And despite the absence of binding force, its reach could be substantial: the Catholic Church remains the largest religious organisation on the planet, active in virtually every country.

The document has also benefited from the very algorithms it criticises: social media amplified it far beyond a typical papal text, turning it into a cultural moment. American science fiction writer Gardner Dozois once defined cyberpunk as «high technology and low quality of life.» In essence, that is also the pope's fear, and Magnifica Humanitas is his attempt to argue that a different path remains possible.