News

The pope’s AI encyclical isn’t really about AI

Published

1 month ago

May 25, 2026

Preport

Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical on Monday, dubbed Magnifica Humanitas, on “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” And while AI is the hook, the problems Leo focuses on are older and more pervasive: inequality, war, the erosion of democracy, and the concentration of power in the hands of those who don’t necessarily care whether humanity writ large remains magnificent.

Throughout the 200-page document, which the pope presented alongside Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah, Leo argues that technology built and governed by a small elite cannot, by definition, serve the common good.

“When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities,” he writes.

“In fact, as with every major technological shift, AI tends to amplify the power of those who already possess economic resources, expertise and access to data,” the encyclical continues, highlighting concerns that elites can use their power to “shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes and steer economic dynamics to their own advantage.”

The encyclical comes a few days after President Donald Trump delayed signing his executive order on AI, which would have given the government oversight over new models before they are released, reportedly on the urging of VC investor and former White House AI czar David Sacks.

Pope Leo called for AI to be guided by “clear criteria and effective oversight” grounded in participation from communities that will be affected by it. More concretely, Leo called for an end to the AI arms race “for ever more powerful algorithms and larger datasets” that companies and countries believe will “secure geopolitical or commercial dominance.”

“To disarm means discrediting the assumption that technical power automatically confers the right to govern,” he wrote.

Again, these dynamics predate AI. Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 Rerum Novarum addressed the same concentration of power during the Industrial Revolution, but we needn’t look back that far. Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter and deployment of the platform to help elect Trump; the hundreds of millions flowing from tech elites into super PACs to block AI regulation — the kind of pattern that clearly inspired Leo XIV’s work.

The pope comes to the same conclusion that many have arrived at: the surreal power and capabilities of today’s AI raise the stakes enormously.

Notre Dame Law School professor Paolo Carozza, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and chair of the Meta Oversight Board, told TechCrunch that AI-driven misinformation and deepfakes have “corroded our capacity to recognize what’s true and what’s not true, and that really has consequences for democratic politics.” The tech industry’s practice of “harvesting and manipulating” human data, he added, poses “fundamental challenges to cognitive freedom.”

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Business

Alake warns mining firms over host community agreements, threatens licence revocation

Published

41 minutes ago

July 5, 2026

Preport

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dele Alake, has warned mining companies operating in Nigeria that failure to comply with their Community Development Agreements (CDAs) could lead to sanctions, including the revocation of their licences.

Mr Alake gave the warning on Saturday during the ministry’s 2026 Ministerial Retreat in Abuja.

He said although the government has made significant progress in reforming the solid minerals sector, greater emphasis would now be placed on accountability and ensuring that host communities benefit from mining activities.

“Our reforms have restored confidence, attracted serious investors and made the sector a key part of Nigeria’s economic diversification. Now, our focus is on accountability,” he stated.

The minister stressed that companies must honour the agreements reached with their host communities.

“Mining companies that fail to honour their Community Development Agreements will face sanctions, including the revocation of their licences,” he said.

He added that, “Host communities deserve to benefit from the resources in their land, and there will be consequences for those who ignore that responsibility.”

Community Development Agreements are legally required arrangements between mining companies and host communities, outlining commitments on social amenities, employment, infrastructure and other development projects.

READ ALSO: Alake calls for united African front to capture greater value from global mineral economy

Illegal mining

Mr Alake also reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to tackling illegal mining across the country.

According to him, the ministry will strengthen the operations of the Mining Marshals while adopting practical and innovative measures to improve security in the sector.

“I also reaffirmed our commitment to ending illegal mining by strengthening the Mining Marshals and embracing practical, innovative ideas that will make the sector more secure and more beneficial to all Nigerians,” he said.

The minister said the government’s ongoing reforms are aimed at building a more transparent, secure and investment-friendly mining sector capable of contributing more significantly to Nigeria’s economic diversification.

News

New Google commercial imagines a Declaration of Independence written with help from AI

Published

43 minutes ago

July 5, 2026

Preport

Two hundred and fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a new commercial from Google asks: What if the Founding Fathers had access to Google Workspace?

With the tagline “Group project, but make it 1776,” the ad depicts a largely unseen Thomas Jefferson mid-draft when he gets a nagging text from Ben Franklin, leading to a very Google-centric collaboration process. Edits are suggested in Google Docs, a meeting gets scheduled in Google Calendar and conducted remotely via Google Meet (with every single attendee apparently turning their camera off?), then the whole thing is finalized with e-signatures; cue the fireworks.

Of course, since this is an ad from a tech company in the year 2026, AI has a role to play. The fictionalized founders use Google’s “help me visualize” AI tool to try out different animals on the national seal, Gemini takes notes on the meeting, and the founders also ask the chatbot for advice before declining King George III’s document access request.

The whole thing is very tongue-in-cheek (at one point, Sam Adams asks, “Can we settle this over beers?”), and the AI evangelism is relatively discreet when compared to many other recent ads. And unlike that infamous Google commercial in which a father uses Gemini to write a fan letter for his daughter, this one shies away from any suggestion that the actual text of the Declaration of Independence would be improved with AI. Perhaps the most AI-forward element of the ad is the footage itself, which to my eye has the uncanny glow of AI-generated video.

While viewer comments on YouTube and Instagram appear to be mostly positive, you may not be surprised to learn that the response on Bluesky has been far more critical. Posters declared the commercial “cringey” and “stunningly tone deaf,” and the AI angle was the biggest target — even as many users, including historian Angus Johnston, noted that it’s “amazing how little of this is actually AI.”

“Even in a corny fantasy joke, it’s impossible to make the case that AI is a useful tool for political organizing, writing, or human collaboration,” Johnston said.