The Vatican plans to publish the first ever papal encyclical written jointly by Pope Leo XIV and an Anthropic co-founder, reports PBS. The first ever papal encyclical was created with the collaboration of a technology company's CEO. As previously stated, papal encyclicals represent the highest level of authority of the Catholic Church after ex-cathedra pronouncements. The PBS article describes the cooperation of the two parties, however it did not indicate which co-founder at Anthropic was involved nor provided any details regarding the content of the document or when the encyclical would be released.
As religious institutions around the world consider the influence that AI may have on human dignity, employment and making decisions, the Vatican is now partnering with one of the top organizations dedicated to researching AI safety and transparency (Anthropic), who was started in 2021 by some of the founding members of OpenAI.
Limited Details Regarding Collaboration Raises Questions
There is limited information available from the PBS report to help understand how this partnership occurred or what issues related to AI the encyclical will discuss. Some open-ended questions are; how much influence did the co-founder from Anthropic have in writing vs providing consultation, if any other experts from the technology community were consulted and/or how could/does the traditional theology review process of the Vatican accommodate this unique type of partnership.
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Due to no ability to obtain a copy of the document or hear directly from either party, it remains unclear at this point in time for those interested in understanding the potential implications of this relationship between Catholic doctrine on technology and how the tech industry may respond formally to guidelines from religious leaders on developing AI.
However, this new collaborative approach demonstrates that Pope Leo XIV is seeking more direct partnerships with companies in Silicon Valley than his predecessors, although the effectiveness of this method will ultimately depend on specifics recommendations contained within the encyclical and interpretations made by both Catholic institutions and companies in the technology sector.
