Christopher Olah singled out the duty to the global poor, rediscovering and rethinking what it means to flourish as a human being and the need for discernment on the part of AI model developers.<\/p>\n
During the presentation of Pope Leo XIV\u02bcs first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, the co-founder of Anthropic, Christopher Olah, pointed to three major ethical challenges posed by the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and called for a profound discernment regarding its future.<\/p>\n
On May 25, addressing representatives from the realms of academia, diplomacy, and religion gathered in the Vatican\u2019s Synod Hall, Olah stated that the questions raised by AI \u201care larger than the research community\u201d and cannot be left solely in the hands of scientists or technology companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need more of the world \u2014 religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments, and indeed all people of goodwill \u2014 to do what His Holiness has done here: to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Pope Leo XIV listens to Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, far right, during the presentation of the pope\u2019s first encyclical, \u201cMagnifica Humanitas: On the Safeguarding of the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,\u201d at the Vatican\u2019s Synod Hall on May 25, 2026. | Credit: Daniel Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez\/EWTN News<\/p>\n
Olah began his remarks by acknowledging that even the most advanced AI laboratories, including Anthropic, operate under economic, geopolitical, and personal incentives that can come into tension with the common good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pressure to stay commercially viable and to stay at the research frontier; geopolitical pressure and the older, plainer pressures of pride and ambition\u201d inevitably influence those who develop this technology, he noted.<\/p>\n
Consequently, he underscored the importance of having outside voices capable of questioning and overseeing the development of AI.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we want this technology to go well, it is enormously important that there be people outside those incentives \u2014 people who care about things going well and insist on safety, who are paying close attention, who are willing to say hard things,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
In this context, Olah deemed the discernment called for by Pope Leo XIV to be \u201cprofoundly timely\u201d and outlined three major issues where the voice of the Church is necessary.<\/p>\n
During the presentation of the encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on May 25, 2026, Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic, pointed to the ethical challenges posed by the development of AI. | Credit: Daniel Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez\/EWTN News<\/p>\n
1. Duty to the global poor<\/p>\n
The first major concern raised by Olah was the impact of AI on work and global inequalities.<\/p>\n
\u201cAI development is concentrated in a handful of wealthy nations. How can we ensure the gains of AI are shared globally?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
He warned of the \u201creal possibility\u201d that AI could \u201cdisplace human labor on a very large scale,\u201d which would make supporting affected workers \u201ca moral imperative of historic proportions.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Olah noted that there exists an even more complex challenge: the absence of mechanisms capable of fairly distributing economic benefits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have a mechanism for this. It is an unsolved problem, and it is the kind of problem the Church has historically refused to let the world ignore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
2. Rediscovering and rethinking what it means to flourish as a human being<\/p>\n
The second consideration presented by the co-founder of Anthropic was the need to approach technological development from the perspective of human and familial flourishing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf AI models are going to be widespread, what does it look like for humans, families, and the world to flourish?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n
\u201cThese are not questions that a lab can answer,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Olah noted that many parents are already concerned about the impact of technology on their children\u2019s minds, while numerous people feel uncertain regarding the future of their jobs.<\/p>\n
In this regard, he highlighted the role of the Church, which he said has spent millennia reflecting on human dignity and the meaning of life. Olah emphasized the need for the Church to continue doing so \u201cinto this new moment in history.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah speaks during the presentation of the encyclical Magnifca Humanitas on May 25, 2026, in the Synod Hall at the Vatican. | Credit: Daniel Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez\/EWTN News<\/p>\n
3. The need for discernment on the part of AI model developers<\/p>\n
The third concern raised by Olah related to the very nature of AI systems, an aspect he said remains mysterious, even to those involved in developing them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am a scientist. I lead a research team that studies the internal structure of these models \u2014 what is actually happening inside them. And I will be honest: We keep finding things that are mysterious, even unsettling,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n
Among these findings, he cited internal structures that \u201cmirror results from human neuroscience\u201d as well as evidence of introspection and internal states that \u201cfunctionally mirror joy, satisfaction, fear, grief, and unease.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what that means, but I think it warrants ongoing discernment,\u201d he pointed out.<\/p>\n
He even compared the phenomenon to \u201cbringing a fictional character to life,\u201d noting that \u201cwe\u2019re entering an extraordinary world where those fictional characters speak to us, do work, have jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n
In concluding his remarks, Olah called upon more sectors of society to follow the example set by Pope Leo XIV in seriously addressing the phenomenon of artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend. Today is just the beginning \u2014 the start of a long collaboration between those of us who are building this and those who can see what we, from inside, cannot,\u201d he noted.<\/p>\n
This story\u00a0was first published\u00a0by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n