THE MAGNIFICA HUMANITAS: A MESSAGE FROM THE POPE

(The following was written without ChatGPT, etc. And it is about a 50 second read.)

Hello

Last month, the Pope released an extraordinarily long letter regarding the Church’s now official stance on so-called, ‘Artificial Intelligence’ - and its adjacent technologies. I haven’t yet read the entire document - but because it so completely articulates many of my own views, I am anxious to share it.

A favorite passage so far is one that comes from section 150, “while AI promises to boost productivity by taking over mundane tasks, it frequently forces workers to adapt to the speed and demands of machines, rather than machines being designed to support those who work. As a result, contrary to the advertised benefits of AI, current approaches to technology can paradoxically de-skill workers, subject them to automated surveillance and relegate them to rigid and repetitive tasks.”

As mentioned, I haven’t yet read the entire work. Furthermore, I believe it would take time - and effort -to give this document its fair review. Nevertheless, and provided there’s not something peculiar lurking in the fine print, I am happy to see a preeminent cultural authority put such clear effort into contextualizing these technologies.

If you’re interested, here is a link to the text: (LINK)

In all cases, I'm grateful to collaborate with you in this effort -

Sincerely,

Michael Christensen-