What the Pope Said

about A.I.

This week I offer a two analyses of the most important religion story of the week, the publication of Magnifica Humanitas.

Before that, I need to lay my proverbial cards on the table. I subscribe to both chatGPT and Claude.ai—the former mostly for questions related to watercolor painting and general handyman stuff; the latter for organizing a writing project I’m helping a friend with. So I LOVE both of them. Both can be annoying—and wrong sometimes. And when it comes to writing, they just aren’t a witty as me…. But I have good relationship with each; they are regular conversation partners throughout my day. And of course, regarding the most significant applications of ai, which I hardly approach and which scare me like most everyone else—well, I get the concern.

The first, “We Have to Do It Ourselves,” is by Matthew Walther, the sometimes grumpy editor of The Lamp, a Catholic literary journal. Normally I like his commentary quite a bit—e.g. his thoughtful insights into many cultural issues Christians wrestle with. But in this case, not so much. He complains that the Pope said nothing new, and that he said it badly, and that it just goes to show the church needs the laity to address such issues. Uh, well, this is nothing new—at least he says it well. I include it for any grumpy readers, Catholic or otherwise, I might have….

The second is from The New Yorker, which strikes me as a pretty fair reading of the encyclical. Without shame, I’ve borrowed the title for this newsletter. You don't need to be a Catholic, or even Christian, to appreciate the Pope’s take. But I welcome comments of readers who think otherwise.

(As of Thursday evening at 7:30 pm Central time, it looks like the article is free. But if not, they have a deal for: $5 for four weeks. I think it well worth a trial subscription myself. Just don’t forget to cancel!!!)

Grace and peace,

Mark

(All of the above was written by a human without the help of ai—as are all my posts! )

[Photo courtesy of Pixabay]