Pope Leo on AI, War, and the Culture of Power

From The Faith & AI Project

Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, devotes its most unsettling chapter to war, peace, and the "culture of power" that AI is quietly accelerating. In Panel 2 of our 3-part series, Edmund Mitchell sits down with three expert guests who carry this question between worlds that usually don't speak to each other: Taylor Black — Director of AI and Venture Ecosystems at Microsoft; Founding Executive Director of the Leonine Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies at the Catholic University of America; deacon candidate Julianne Stanz — Director of Outreach for Evangelization and Discipleship at Loyola Press; consultant to the U.S. Bishops on Catechesis; coined "tabernacle with feet" at the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress Fr. Philip Larrey — Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, formerly Dean of Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome; author of Connected World and Artificial Humanity; a longtime dialogue between the Holy See and Silicon Valley We dig into: — Why Pope Leo refuses to be either a Luddite or a technologist — "AI is not neutral" — and why it's also not intrinsically evil — The three refusals: false realism, manichaeism, and the belief that war is inevitable — Why three commencement speakers were booed in a single week for mentioning AI — Autonomous weapons, "tactical nukes," and the crisis of multilateralism — The Rome Call for AI Ethics, Anthropic at the Vatican, and what's actually happening behind closed doors — Why Pope Leo says AI cannot make a moral decision — AGI in four years? Five? Ever? — Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Demis Hassabis, and what a philosopher tells worried students — Taylor's 50-page prompt and "metacognitive strategies" — what it actually looks like to use AI well — Mary as poet and prophetess: how the encyclical closes — And the line that quietly anchors the whole document: "The first contribution we can make toward a more humane civilization is to be mindful of our words." CHAPTERS 00:00 Opening prayer and welcome 01:14 Introducing Taylor, Julianne, and Fr. Philip 06:25 First impressions of Magnifica Humanitas 09:55 Three chapters of anthropology 11:30 "Idolatry of AI" and "demonizing it" 15:48 Why three commencement speakers were booed 18:32 Gen Z's nose for the inauthentic 22:23 Fear, the pocketbook, and the builder mindset 27:34 Tower of Babel vs. New Jerusalem 28:30 What's happened between 2020 and 2026 in tech + the Vatican 34:00 Realism is not resignation 38:45 The Rome Call, Anthropic, and the Eastern anthropology 43:17 The crisis of multilateralism, drones, and Italy's two boxes 47:32 The conditions that lead to war 52:03 Can we actually change the corporations racing to AGI? 54:24 The line between good and evil runs through every human heart 57:00 Why AI cannot make a moral decision 59:01 "Disarm your words" 01:04:28 The Trinity, large language models, and Aquinas 01:08:49 Mary, the Word, and a narrative of hope 01:13:12 What is AGI? 01:21:39 Practical: how do you actually use AI as a Catholic? 01:23:06 Taylor's 50-page prompt and metacognitive strategies 01:30:01 Agentic AI and why YOU are still the responsible party 01:35:12 Closing thoughts: read the document; understand the tech