{"id":145477,"date":"2026-05-28T12:31:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T16:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=145477"},"modified":"2026-05-28T18:44:49","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T22:44:49","slug":"free-press-arthur-brooks-the-popes-guide-to-the-ai-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kendallharmon.net\/?p=145477","title":{"rendered":"(Free Press) Arthur Brooks: The Pope\u2019s Guide to the AI Revolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

here\u2019s an expression that artificial intelligence developers in California use to refer to their work: \u201cBuilding God.\u201d <\/em>In fact, one of them, Avital Balwit, the chief of staff to Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, just did so in a May 22 essay<\/a> for The Free Press.<\/em> The use of the phrase, she wrote, is intended as a form of sardonic humor, acknowledging the awesome power and potential consequences of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But is it a joke, really? The timing of Balwit\u2019s piece was serendipitous, for only three days after it was published, Pope Leo XIV made headlines around the world for writing about artificial intelligence. On Monday, he issued his first encyclical<\/a>\u2014a major papal declaration on contemporary issues that is intended to guide the Catholic Church\u2014titled Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI, Leo writes, isn\u2019t the first time people have tried to build something godlike. Indeed, he opens his encyclical with the biblical story from Genesis of the Tower of Babel, which was a human attempt to reach \u201cto the heavens.\u201d What was the builders\u2019 motivation? By their own account<\/a>, \u201cso that we may make a name for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lest you think his encyclical is a broadside against modern science and human ingenuity, the pope contrasts the tower with another biblical construction operation, the Wall of Jerusalem from the book of Nehemiah, which sought to serve and protect the people of God, who were vulnerable to their enemies. The difference was not in the engineering prowess each project required. It was in their goals. The tower, with its morally dubious purpose, is a cautionary tale of hubris leading to ruin. The wall, by contrast, is a story of promise leading to human flourishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>

For all the panic surrounding AI, Pope Leo offers a coherent philosophy for how individuals, leaders, and societies should actually live with it, writes Arthur Brooks. https:\/\/t.co\/ngHpllpYEV<\/a><\/p>— The Free Press (@TheFP) May 28, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>