Pope Leo on AI, War, and the Culture of Power

Pope Leo's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, devotes its most unsettling chapter to war, peace, and the "culture of power" that AI is quietly accelerating. In Panel 2 of our 3-part series, Edmund Mitchell sits down with three expert guests who carry this question between worlds that usually don't speak to each other:Taylor Black — Director of AI and Venture Ecosystems at Microsoft; Founding Executive Director of the Leonine Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies at the Catholic University of America; deacon candidateJulianne Stanz — Director of Outreach for Evangelization and Discipleship at Loyola Press; consultant to the U.S. Bishops on Catechesis; coined "tabernacle with feet" at the 2024 National Eucharistic CongressFr. Philip Larrey — Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, formerly Dean of Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome; author of Connected World and Artificial Humanity; a longtime dialogue between the Holy See and Silicon ValleyWe dig into:— Why Pope Leo refuses to be either a Luddite or a technologist— "AI is not neutral" — and why it's also not intrinsically evil— The three refusals: false realism, manichaeism, and the belief that war is inevitable— Why three commencement speakers were booed in a single week for mentioning AI— Autonomous weapons, "tactical nukes," and the crisis of multilateralism— The Rome Call for AI Ethics, Anthropic at the Vatican, and what's actually happening behind closed doors— Why Pope Leo says AI cannot make a moral decision— AGI in four years? Five? Ever? — Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Demis Hassabis, and what a philosopher tells worried students— Taylor's 50-page prompt and "metacognitive strategies" — what it actually looks like to use AI well— Mary as poet and prophetess: how the encyclical closes— And the line that quietly anchors the whole document: "The first contribution we can make toward a more humane civilization is to be mindful of our words."This is Panel 2 of three. To watch Panel 1 (Matthew Harvey Sanders, Dr. Brett Robinson, Fr. Jean Gové) click the link below.CHAPTERS00:00 Opening prayer and welcome01:14 Introducing Taylor, Julianne, and Fr. Philip06:25 First impressions of Magnifica Humanitas09:55 Three chapters of anthropology 11:30 "Idolatry of AI" and "demonizing it" 15:48 Why three commencement speakers were booed18:32 Gen Z's nose for the inauthentic22:23 Fear, the pocketbook, and the builder mindset27:34 Tower of Babel vs. New Jerusalem28:30 What's happened between 2020 and 2026 in tech + the Vatican34:00 Realism is not resignation38:45 The Rome Call, Anthropic, and the Eastern anthropology43:17 The crisis of multilateralism, drones, and Italy's two boxes47:32 The conditions that lead to war52:03 Can we actually change the corporations racing to AGI?54:24 The line between good and evil runs through every human heart57:00 Why AI cannot make a moral decision59:01 "Disarm your words" 01:04:28 The Trinity, large language models, and Aquinas01:08:49 Mary, the Word, and a narrative of hope01:13:12 What is AGI?01:21:39 Practical: how do you actually use AI as a Catholic?01:23:06 Taylor's 50-page prompt and metacognitive strategies01:30:01 Agentic AI and why YOU are still the responsible party01:35:12 Closing thoughts: read the document; understand the techLINKSPanel 1 with Matthew Harvey Sanders, Dr. Brett Robinson, Fr. Jean Gové: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7P6SYsm_ktoLeonine Institute for AI and Emerging Technologies: https://leonum.catholic.edu/Loyola Press: https://www.loyolapress.com/Fr. Philip Larrey's Artificial Humanity: https://philiplarrey.com/publications/artificial-humanity/The Rome Call for AI Ethics: https://www.romecall.org/This episode is brought to you by ParishStaq by Pushpay — the comprehensive parish platform built for Catholic parishes. Schedule a live demo at https://pushpay.com/#PopeLeo #MagnificaHumanitas #FaithAndAI #CatholicAI #AGILearn more and access free resources at faithandaiproject.com.