With AI and Wordle, Pope Leo proves to be a Pope of the Digital Age

lastmansurfing
2 days ago
1 min read

“Even artificial intelligence simply reproduces our own preferences and accelerates processes that, on closer inspection, are not the work of machines, but of humanity itself,” the pope said in an address just a few hours after he landed in Turkey last week. “Let us work together, therefore, to change the trajectory of development and repair the damage already done to the unity of our human family.”

Leo, the first pope from the United States and the first baby boomer (he was born in 1955), is keenly aware of the promise and threat of the digital age. Even before this trip, he had spoken of the benefit of being able to connect with other Catholics around the world through social media and on streaming platforms.

Pope Francis, Leo’s immediate predecessor, had also warned about the perils of artificial intelligence and called for the ethical use of technology.

Leo amplified those concerns from the start of his tenure, calling in his first address to Roman Catholic cardinals for the church to grapple with the risks that A.I. poses to “human dignity, justice and labor.”