Chris Olah, a co-founder of leading AI firm Anthropic and an avowed atheist, unexpectedly spoke at a Vatican event following Pope Leo's major encyclical on artificial intelligence, which called for the technology to be "disarmed." Olah's presence highlights the Vatican's attempt to engage directly with the AI industry's inner workings and concerns.
Olah acknowledged the unusual nature of his participation, stating, "I want to begin with something that may sound strange coming from the cofounder of an AI company, and someone who chose this work out of a desire to help things go well for humankind. Every frontier AI lab—including Anthropic—operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing." His remarks served as a firsthand confirmation of the Pope's assertion that the AI sector requires both external pressure and internal self-regulation to avert potential human disaster.
Pope Leo's encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas," warns against the AI industry's optimistic belief in creating universal abundance. Instead, the Pope cautions of a future where a select few benefit from AI's immense wealth, while the majority face a new form of subjugation characterized by efficiency and surveillance. While the document is not expected to halt AI development or its applications in areas like job displacement or weaponry, its primary goal is to foster dialogue and potentially instill a sense of ethical responsibility among AI creators.
Olah's involvement was the culmination of years of Vatican engagement with AI. Initiatives like the Minerva Dialogues, which began in 2016, have brought together tech leaders to discuss the implications of artificial intelligence. More recently, Catholic clerics and ethicists from Santa Clara University, including Brian Patrick Green and Brendan McGuire, actively sought out industry insiders like Olah. Their discussions even influenced Anthropic's update to Claude's operational constitution, with Green and McGuire receiving acknowledgements.
The Vatican's choice to feature Olah, despite potential criticism from both AI accelerationists and those disappointed by an industry representative's inclusion, was strategic. Olah's position brought to light the significant anxieties within the AI workforce, a crucial audience for the Pope's message. While Olah described AI models as "more subtle, odd, and beautiful than science fiction prepared us for," Pope Leo's encyclical cautions against equating AI intelligence with human consciousness and strongly opposes transhumanism.
Father McGuire noted the complex nature of AI, stating, "It's not a person, but it's also not a mere tool. Nobody's claiming it has a soul, but the word I stick with is that it's an entity, which we do not know yet." The moral questions surrounding AI development demand immediate attention, and with Olah as an ally, the Pope has laid the groundwork for critical conversations, provided the AI industry can pause its pursuit of IPOs to engage.
