The Pope is into AI

TL;DR

• 1

  The Pope’s AI encyclical is far more sophisticated than Berman expected — he says Magnifica Humanitus takes a nuanced middle path, arguing AI is unavoidable but must be governed around human dignity, the common good, and concentrated private power.

• 2

  A core warning is that AI is being decided by a tiny private elite — Berman connects the encyclical’s concern about 'predominantly private' technological power to Anthropic’s behavior, especially its unreleased Mythos model and repeated calls for more regulation.

• 3

  The strongest section is on AI companionship replacing real relationships — Berman highlights the Pope’s line that simulated care can erode the desire for genuine human connection, tying it to Character.AI, teen attachment, loneliness, and falling birth rates.

• 4

  Berman agrees deeply that AI can strip away human texture even when it looks useful — he gives a concrete example from his own newsletter, where he banned AI-generated help on original essays because machine writing erased the 'human mistakes' that make writing feel alive.

• 5

  Anthropic’s appearance at the Vatican is the part he finds 'very weird' — he argues the company is aligning with both government and the Catholic Church to reinforce its preferred regulatory framework while presenting itself as uniquely responsible and safety-minded.

• 6

  Anthropic’s rhetoric about model 'emotions' and 'introspection' looks like strategic gatekeeping to him — after co-founder Dario Amodei’s team described Claude-like systems as showing states mirroring joy, fear, grief, and unease, Berman frames it as awe-and-fear messaging that supports tighter control by incumbents.