The Catholic Church the Moral Guide on AI?

The Vatican under Pope Leo xiv wants to be the defining voice when it comes to the development of artificial intelligence. It’s so important to Leo that he published his first encyclical on the topic Monday. He broke with tradition by attending the presentation of his encyclical and giving a speech. He also invited Christopher Olah, cofounder of Anthropic, one of the world’s leading AI companies.

The first sentence of the encyclical states:

Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together.

Leo implies that only with the guidance of the Catholic Church can mankind avoid the Tower of Babel and instead create a city in which God and man can dwell. The problem is that the Catholic Church has promised for centuries to bring utopia to Earth—but it has failed. There is no reason to believe that this latest promise will end differently, yet many powerful individuals are putting their trust in the pope.

Moral Guide on AI?

Ahead of the publication, National Catholic Reporter wrote that Pope Leo wants the Vatican to be “a leading moral authority on the development and application of AI.”

His goal appears to be progressing. Olah, representing Anthropic and the scientists behind AI, addressed Pope Leo as “Holy Father” and “His Holiness” and thanked him and the Catholic Church for its “work of discernment.”

But why turn to the Catholic Church for discernment?

The reason is simple: AI is revolutionizing our world, and some fear that it will redefine what it means to be human. Every past revolution has brought great evil, and some think the Catholic Church can serve as a moral guide.

Pope Leo warns that AI models could be used to determine who gets a job or credit, erode human creativity and personal relationships, empower the wealthy, threaten democracy, obscure the truth, and automate warfare. He is not the only one warning about these things. Some of those running these AI companies want moral guidance. However, the Catholic Church has not proved to be a more reliable moral guide on these issues than other institutions. In fact, the opposite is true.

As an example, the encyclical warns that those who “command powerful technological and economic resources” can ultimately “influence a significant number of people concerning the truth about humanity, the world, the meaning of existence, the family and even God. This is pure power detached from truth, which subtly or overtly imposes what it wishes others to accept as true.”

Isn’t that exactly what the Catholic Church has done over the centuries? Compare the Catholic Church’s doctrines with the Bible and you will see they aren’t grounded in God’s Word. Yet many people believe its teachings to be absolute truth.

Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry writes in The True History of God’s True Church:

True Christians are those who follow Christ.

The Catholic Church has a long, violent history of burning Bibles and, at times, burning the people who obeyed those Bibles! That is a spiritual abomination that this world must understand. It is the polar opposite of what the true Church of God would do!

The Catholic Church is guided first of all by its traditions. That means the Catholic Church is led by human reasoning—not the Bible, which is Jesus Christ in print.

The fact that the Catholic Church rejects the authority of the Bible and is instead guided by human reasoning, just like every other institution, disqualifies it as a moral guide. Those who have erroneously put their trust in this institution have become a tool in its hand to enforce its will on mankind.

Another example: The encyclical claims that if AI were used to “make decisions affecting concrete opportunities—such as access to credit, employment or essential services—there is a risk of undermining freedom and discriminating against the most vulnerable.” Again, this is exactly what the Catholic Church has done throughout history.

In Who or What Is the Prophetic Beast? (free upon request), Herbert W. Armstrong wrote that the Vatican caused the state to deny anyone a job opportunity who would not worship on Sunday. It even caused them to be killed! Revelation 13 and 17 speak of this history and reveal that this church will once again gain control of European governments, or “ride the beast.”

If a company thinks it can enter a partnership with this church, it has become “drunk with the wine of her fornication.” As Mr. Flurry explains, “God uses these symbols to describe an entity that has intoxicating power over people around the world because it has had relations with the political leaders of many nations.”

Of course, many Catholics are sincere in their beliefs. Yet they, along with the rest of humanity, are deceived by the god of this world, Satan the devil (Ephesians 2:2; Revelation 12:9). Anyone who claims to be free of this deceit but doesn’t live by every word of God deceives himself (Matthew 4:4; James 1:22).

Bible prophecy specifically warns against trusting the Catholic Church in numerous passages.

As our literature explains in detail, the Catholic Church will again form a Holy Roman Empire alliance with a rising European superpower. Mr. Flurry’s article “The Unknown Future of Artificial Intelligence” shows that this superpower will gain the edge in AI.

Companies like Anthropic are currently enabling the U.S. to maintain its lead in AI, although Anthropic has restricted the Pentagon’s use of some of its models due to ethical concerns. The Vatican could play a role to ensure that Anthropic holds back critical developments from the U.S. government while portraying European governments as trusted partners.

While the future of AI remains largely unknown, the Bible reveals that the guidance of the Catholic Church will not benefit mankind. In fact, it will empower another bloody Holy Roman Empire.