The pope’s AI encyclical isn’t really about AI

Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical is less a technical critique of AI than a broader warning about concentrated power. It argues that AI highlights older problems, including democratic erosion and a technology elite reshaping society for its own benefit.

The message positions AI ethics within a larger debate over governance, inequality, and accountability. By tying tech power to democratic fragility, the encyclical reflects growing institutional concern that AI could reinforce existing imbalances rather than simply create new risks.