Sermon On The Algorithm: The Pope’s warnings on AI

An encyclical by the Pope is not as big a deal as it used to be because it has been many centuries since the Catholic church was the all-important sole influencer of the Christian world. But it is still a big deal because there are still close to one-and-a-half billion Catholics in the world, and the Pope has religious and moral authority over them. The encyclical by Pope Leo XIV signed on May 15 and published on May 25 came on the 135th anniversary of another encyclical called Rerum Novarum, and that legitimised workers’ rights for the flock. It led to trade unions becoming more accept­able to them. New political parties that shaped societies and influenced the course of global politics were born as a result.