The great evil. . .

In the Pope's first encyclical, he has dismantled the just war theory Christianity has defended for a very long time.  In his mind, it is an antiquated concept no longer in step with the complex and changing reality of the present.  I am sure that the rest of Christianity will be happy to know that Leo has rendered his opinion on this -- except that his opinion counts for a bit more than an opinion.  To some, at least.

I am not at all sure that Rome, with its own history of brutal persecution of those whom it calls heretics or witches or whatever, is in a great position to speak of how justice, dialogue, mutual, sacrifice, and the affirmation of the human dignity of every person.  I guess that is a small thing -- since Leo is about to end the whole idea of war with the power of love.  Perhaps he could apply this locally to the situation in the Middle East, for example.   

As one wag put it, war is often a symptom of evil rather than the evil itself. The problem is that we tend to treat war as the problem in the same way we assign the problem of violence to guns.  Of course they are related but not perhaps in the way some presume.  The evil that set man against man happened long before there were nations and armies.  The first death of Eden happened before a military industrial complex or drug cartels or adultery or a lot of things.  In case the pope forgot.  War is the result of what lives in the heart of man from the departure from Eden to the present.  It may not be politically correct to say that but every Christian theologian worth his salt surely knows the truth of it all.  Or should.  Even Leo has to admit that today, “the highest level is not the State, but rather major economic and technological actors that exercise de facto power over the conditions of everyday life.”  That

He also addresses artificial intelligence.  It should not be served but serve us.  That makes me feel better.  Magnifica Humanitas is about the much larger transformation of human life in our time -- even bigger than war, it would seem.  It is about technology, work, education, truth, communication, political power, economic inequality, war, transhumanism, and the temptation to treat the human person as data, material, or an instrument.  On this we both agree:  AI needs to be governed and not simply regulated.  But it is probably a little late for that statement to make much of a difference.  The world is already in the camp of fear that if the good guys do not develop AI, the bad guys will so every one must take it over and make it work for their cause.  Amid Leo's warning is this odd statement:  "The artificial imitation of positive human communication—words of advice, empathy, friendship and even love—can be engaging and at times genuinely helpful.” Exactly how he does not say.

For Leo, safeguarding human dignity is the criterion for judging what is good and what is not -- even in the sphere of technological development and artificial intelligence.  He is rightly concerned about the risk of moral irresponsibility in the use of artificial intelligence as well he should.  But what remains to be seen is how a dismal record of human violence and war will give way to reason and the power of love when it comes to the implementation of artificial intelligence.  I guess he has more hope than I do.  He apologizes for slavery as if it were his or Christianity's to apologize for and then fails to admit that Silicon Valley is headed full speed while any calls to consider the impact of it all are not even a distraction for the powers that rule AI.  In the end it would be wise to admit that the improvement of the human condition is not exactly the reason for a Savior who suffered and died and rose again.  The redemption of humanity, not the same as its improvement, seems to be God's higher concern.  Leo should know that as well.  Christian thinkers should weigh in on the morality of this technology, to be sure, but our primary concern ought to remain the proclamation of Christ crucified and risen for sinners but not quite for semi-sentient silicon chips.