Pope Leo to issue text on human dignity and AI with Anthropic co-founder | Pope Leo XIV

In the first major text of his papacy, Pope Leo will address the rapid rise of artificial intelligence.

The Chicago-born pontiff will present the document, known as an encyclical, at the Vatican next week during an event attended by Christopher Olah, the co-founder of Anthropic – a US-based AI firm that has clashed with Donald Trump’s administration.

The encyclical will address “the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence”, the Vatican said on Monday.

In a break from tradition, Leo, who was elected pontiff in May last year, will launch the document during a public presentation on 25 May. He will be joined by lay speaker Olah of Anthropic, which is in the middle of a high-profile lawsuit with the Trump administration over the ethics of AI, as well as theologians Anna Rowlands and Léocadie Lushombo.

Encyclicals are one of the highest forms of teaching from a pope to the Catholic church’s 1.4 billion members, and typically outline his priorities while highlighting the major issues in society.

Leo is expected to consider how AI is affecting workers’ rights while lamenting its use in warfare.

“His encyclical is going to be a response to the dazzlingly rapid technological revolution that is happening right now,” said Andrea Vreede, a Vatican correspondent for the Dutch public radio and TV network NOS. “So he will say things like AI shouldn’t be used in warfare, that is obvious. But he will also try to be positive and offer workable answers to modern challenges.”

The Vatican said Leo signed the document, which is entitled Magnifica Humanitas, or Magnificent Humanity, on 15 May – 135 years after his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, signed his most significant encyclical, which focused on the Industrial Revolution that was under way at the time while addressing workers’ rights and capitalism.

“The fact that Leo signed the document on the same date as Leo XIII signed his encyclical is significant,” said Vreede. “The 1891 document was a response to the Industrial Revolution, when there were immediate and practical consequences to society, and this one addresses the technological revolution.”

Christopher White, the author of Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy and a senior fellow at Georgetown University’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, said the Vatican had been seriously engaged on questions surrounding AI for several years now, pointing to regular dialogues with Microsoft, Google and other major technology firms.

“Leo’s new encyclical is likely to build on that tradition – not from a perspective of doomerism but one of caution that as technology advances, the human person should be kept at the centre of the discussion,” said White. “Like Pope Francis, Leo will likely raise concern about the dignity of work and the need to ensure that technological advancements don’t override the dignity of workers and their rights. And he’ll likely insist on the need for stringent regulation and a ban on lethal autonomous weapons.”

Traditionally, a pope’s encyclical is presented by cardinals. While the main presenters will be the Vatican’s top cardinals, doctrine chief Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández and development chief Cardinal Michael Czerny, the fact that lay speakers have been invited – along with Leo’s attendance – is also significant.

Vreede said: “That’s a very clever strategic communication move, because if the cardinals do it, nobody really listens, but if the pope is there, all the cameras will be there, and we will all listen.”