Few topics in recent years have attracted more attention—or more investment capital—than “artificial intelligence.” And since the beginning of Leo XIV’s pontificate, a series of hints from Rome have suggested that the pope himself intends to wade into the hype cycle with a papal encyclical addressing the “ethical challenges posed by artificial intelligence.” Leo himself has encouraged this expecta...
The Vatican’s critique of AI through the lens of transhumanism and posthumanism presents a compelling counter-narrative to Silicon Valley’s techno-utopianism. At its strongest, the argument highlights legitimate concerns about power concentration, the commodification of human dignity, and the ideological underpinnings of AI development. The ITC’s framing of these trends as "heresies" is a strategic move, positioning the Church as a moral authority in a debate often dominated by technocrats and c...