How the Pope’s Magnifica Humanitas offers a template for individuals to meet the AI moment

Pope Leo XIV may not be able to disarm AI, but he’s got the attention of the industry.

The rise of agentic AI is reshaping careers by allowing professionals to collaborate with digital assistants, thereby reducing cognitive load. Salesforce leaders assert that success now relies on adapting to technology and focusing on meaningful work that requires human insight and creativity.

The intelligent and thoughtful encyclical is an important warning of the uses and misuses of a rapidly developing technology. Silicon Valley is wrong to dismiss it Often I’m asked if I think that the novels of the future will all be written by AI. It’s not so much a question as a provocation. Do I worry that a machine can do what I do, only better? I usually say something like: “No algorithm is going to write Anna Karenina!” which is also not a real answer. So I’m grateful to Pope Leo XIV, the American pope, for his recently issued letter to the world, Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence. It’s a long (more than 40,00 words), intelligent and thoughtful encyclical in which the pope addresses the uses and misuses of a rapidly developing technology. Now when someone asks my opinion of AI, I can refer them to the pope’s letter, or at least chapter three. Continue reading...

Newly appointed chief secretary to the Treasury Lucy Rigby wants to roll out technology across Whitehall

AI's rapid rise could trigger economic depression by 2028, reshaping industries and job markets worldwide. The post Kevin O’Leary: AI could trigger economic depression by 2028, the role of technology in driving innovation, and the impact of Chinese interference on US power projects | The Diary of a CEO appeared first on Crypto Briefing.

Dr Susan Oman on a campaign that is designed to raise public awareness of AI Your editorial on Pope Leo XIV’s call to centre human dignity in AI debate makes an important argument (The Guardian view on the Pope and Claude: Leo XIV’s encyclical on AI is right to put humanity first, 25 May). While governments, faith leaders and tech bosses debate the future of AI, one group is consistently left out of the conversation: the public, the very people whose lives the technology is shaping. Last week, I gave evidence on AI sovereignty to the all-party parliamentary group on AI that aligns with Pope Leo’s position. I argued that AI sovereignty was a series of deeply human and societal questions that exceed technical, material and macroeconomic concerns. I showed that public concern about AI has risen by 10% in two years, and that 91% believe fairness should be prioritised over economic gain. Yet there is no national programme to help the public understand, trust or have a say in AI. Continue r

I draw the old way – with my hand. Doing it with AI would not make me more creative, it would drain the colour out of my existence Last week I went to a gig by myself for the first time. I sat myself down in my single seat, possibly the youngest person in the room and one of thousands excited to see Split Enz. I loved it – I felt joy and heartache as the lyrics spoke of human experiences, really lived. I happily realised that I did not have to wonder whether Split Enz had used AI in their work (as I so often do nowadays) as these bangers were created long before it was even dreamed of. As a visual artist and writer myself, when I see AI generated images, music or words presented as “art”, I see red. It’s boring, it’s theft, it’s soulless, sterile and it’s killing the planet through energy and water-guzzling datacentres. Someone suggested AI “visual art” should be called “Computer Rendered Artificial Pictures” (CRAP). Continue reading...

He is both a critic and a normalizer of the technology.