Browse Comments — Clean (de-noised)

Willy De Backer Yes to this. There is a lot to really sit with and reflect on. I quickly skimmed the chapter on political warnings against technocratic system but I am definitely returning to that. The economic ecosystem is enormously powerful. And, whether we like it or lot, politics matter. Thank you for tagging Dr. Rikap. I will read that work.

I imagine that many of those quick responders used an AI-tool for "reading" it. Dark irony.

Lisa Doeland If so, they are definitely missing out on a good reading experience.

Wakanyi Macharia-Hoffman 100% this. And, interpreting it in a global and multicultural context. I think the best is yet to come, once people get through the whole writing. 🌸

Tara Steele You are so welcome. A good example, I think, of cognitive offloading. And, it feels unfortunate with a theologian document. If adults are racing to use AI to write content, without a baseline for personal understanding, it sets an precedent for children. We should not be surprised when they do the same.

Thomas Ehmer I skipped the transhumanism section for now so I can enjoy it later. Look forward to reading it. You make it sound very interesting.

Thank you for the analysis at first glanceMuch there to digest, ponder, discuss and see how it infiltrates the discourse of purpose. I indeed commented on somethings, not heving read the entirety, caase as you say "Pope Leo leads one of the world’s largest and most historically influential institutions. And as with all major leaders and institutions, I believe it is important to seriously engage with the frameworks they bring into the global conversation, especially when those frameworks concern technology, humanity, and the future of society itself."

The path is inverted. Ai should be disarming. Relational AI uplifts humanity to reduce harm’s demand.

"Kudos to those capable of working on complexity at such extraordinary speed." - All with GPT "assistance" i.e. prompts, summaries, copy/pasting. Magnifica Humanitas demands thorough reading i.e. at least a few days. Reading to understand that is not to be informed like reading some tourist booklet. "artificial intelligence is not merely another issue to regulate, but something that fundamentally challenges existing categories of social thought." - It is. But it's not AI that's at the centre, rather it's statistical modelling. The present day "AI" is all about statistical modelling engines not machine intelligence. Social media is centred on statistical modelling. Billboard charts are categorisation by statistics as if something topping sales chart must be good - it's not. Economy policies are driven by statistics - anyone can believe any of economists' forecasts anymore? i.e. people assimilated to numbers What Pope Leo says too is "don't treat people as numbers".

So agree- the "rush" to gain social media attention diverts from the real necessity to read, consider, challenge and agree or disagree with all or parts of it. Personally, printed it out to read, mark and do comparative research on points made. Clara Hawking Good to know there are still people practicing the slow process of critical thinking vs chasing social media noise.

Looking forward to spending time with this piece.

“not a handbook of rigid rules, but rather “a process of shared discernment” this is how I see principled governance especially board governance. And you are right, a document like this needs reflection.

Clara Hawking Totally. AI literacy is not just teaching how to prompt, which is often the miss conception, but as you said, understanding when to use or not AI and understand how the outputs are created. I deeply feel that with better AI literacy, moving from the fear monger or AI hype, just the in between is what will make "humanity" or shall I say "society" better face this revolution.

Clara Hawking — Clara — your framing of governance as "a process of shared discernment" is the line I will carry from your reflection. It reframes everything. You are right to call out the speed of confident summaries. I read it on the day — Bank Holiday Monday, hottest May day in British history, dog on the balcony — and I was honest with myself: this is a first read, not a deep read. What I could do was notice what resonated. Three things did, immediately and deeply: that AI is not morally neutral, that a more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few, and that someone must always be answerable — an algorithm cannot be. Pope Leo XIV opened his encyclical with a question: are we building a new Tower of Babel, or a city where humanity can flourish together? I think that question deserves a serious answer — not from theologians alone, but from every engineer, every executive, and every board that is currently making decisions about how AI enters their organisation. Thank you for modelling what slow, serious reading looks like. I will be coming back to your reflections as mine deepen too. Magnifica Humanitas is worth reading. Whatever your faith, philosophy or practice.

Beautifully said. The point about slow reading feels essential. A document concerned with AI, truth, education, freedom, work, and social cohesion should not be metabolized at the speed of the feed. What resonates most is the framing of governance not as a static checklist, but as a process of shared discernment. That may be exactly what AI governance now requires: not only rules for systems, but institutions capable of helping us remain human while those systems reshape the conditions around us.

I agree with you that this deserves slow reading, not instant certainty dressed up as analysis. What I find especially striking is that a papal encyclical brings AI out of the usual tech-policy bubble and places it inside a much older conversation about dignity, power, truth, and what kind of beings we are becoming. The point about humaneness also makes me think about faith, in the broadest sense: the ability to live with mystery, devotion, hope, and moral responsibility beyond calculation. It is hard to imagine AI ever developing a need for faith, or the vulnerability that makes faith possible. That may be one of the sharper differences between intelligence as performance and humanity as inner life.

Is there someone who can personally present the Doctrine of the #SystemOfConsciousness to Pope Leo and Mr Christopher Olah and tell them to stop? There are still plenty of "PROBLEMS" in the world without them. Christopher Olah has reached such a level and gone so far that he has developed nostalgia for the Middle Ages. It seems the Vatican also wants to return to the Middle Ages with the help of AI #PopeStopNonsense #OlahStopNonsense #SymbolicAI #CognitiveArchitecture #AIandHumanity #PhilosophyOfAI #ArtificialIntelligence, #AIAlignment.

The deeper challenge may be that concepts such as dignity, truth, justice, and peace are not universally interpreted in identical ways across cultures, legal systems, and philosophical traditions. As AI systems become global, governance may increasingly require frameworks capable not only of defining values, but of preserving coherence between diverse interpretations of those values.

Wakanyi Macharia-Hoffman Clara Hawking as a citizen of the country whose government promotes CanadaGPT I am almost surprised I haven’t yet seen a MagHumGPT or at least an MCP server 🤣

This is something I have been at odds with for over 18 months. 140. Education, by contrast, is a long journey requiring patience, and therefore needs time for development and for engagement with reality beyond appearances. This is a fundamental issue because every technology shapes those who use it. Educating people about the use of AI, then, involves teaching them to decide when and for what purpose it ought not to be used. Every technology shapes those who use it. That is where educator pedagogical expertise matters. Those who are making the hard decisions are thoughtfully and carefully deploying AI, or any technology for that matter with no agenda other than that of improving student outcomes. Educator discernment involves cutting through the hype and ignoring the noise and there’s loads of it!