As you probably heard, Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical letter in May. Titled Magnifica humanitas, the document is a 42,000-word reflection on what it means to be human in our technology-obsessed age of generative artificial intelligence. The Pope officially released the document during a press conference at the Vatican, which the Holy Father himself attended — an unusual move for pontiffs.

Sitting at one end of the dais was Christopher Olah, one of the founders of Anthropic, one of the largest AI companies in the world. His presence made a lot of headlines, too. Right next to Olah was a theologian named Anna Rowlands, and she’s our guest today. Professor Rowlands is the St Hilda Professor of Catholic Social Thought & Practice at Durham University in the United Kingdom. At the press conference, she delivered a stirring 10-minute address on how the encyclical offers the church and the world valuable insights into protecting human dignity and the common good in these uncertain times.

Professor Rowlands is no stranger to the Vatican. In fact, she was involved in one of these press conference panels for the release of Pope Francis’ encyclical Fratelli tutti, and she has been involved in leading the Synod on Synodality process since 2023. Host Mike Jordan Laskey asked her about the press conference itself and how she decided on what she wanted to say in her address. They also talked about how the encyclical has been received and the material in the letter she finds most compelling.

Mike also asked her to respond to one of his favorite critiques of the encyclical and of what generative AI is doing to our brains and souls. It was a wide-ranging conversation and we’re sure you’ll see why we think Professor Rowlands is one of the deepest and most brilliant thinkers you could ever hope to meet.

Professor Anna Rowlands: https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/anna-rowlands/

Her full speech at the encyclical launch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dqapjl7m7V8

The encyclical critique discussed: https://hedgehogreview.com/web-features/thr/posts/should-the-lion-lie-down-with-the-electric-lamb

AMDG is a production of the Jesuit Media Lab, which is a project of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States.

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