AI ethics and power concentration debated by religious and political leaders

Discussions regarding the ethical and political implications of artificial intelligence have emerged from both religious and political spheres in Italy.

In the encyclical 'Magnifica Humanitas', Pope Leo XIV argues for the necessity of disarming AI to prevent the further concentration of power. He warns that AI may appear neutral while actually stripping humanity of its capacity for choice. The Pope critiques posthumanism and transhumanism, asserting that human flourishing occurs through embracing limits rather than attempting to transcend them. He suggests that human wisdom lies in integrating limits and suffering rather than seeking to suppress them through technology.

Concurrently, the Italian Democratic Party has framed AI as a critical democratic and political issue. During a dialogue featuring Nobel laureate Giorgio Parisi and Secretary Elly Schlein, leaders emphasized the need for a public and democratic response to the concentration of technological power within a few global platforms. Schlein noted that when technology becomes a tool for a small minority, it ceases to be a purely technical matter and becomes a political one. The discussion proposed that Europe should aim to build a common AI hub, modeled after CERN, to ensure research and innovation serve the collective interest.