Post #2834171

2026-05-25 11:53 UTC

Encyclical from the pope about the dangers of AI, mostly sane actually: (provided link skips quite a bit about social justice and referencing previous literature) vatican.va/…/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html#Ar… EDIT, snippets: We cannot be satisfied with […] the so-called “alignment” of AI […] without […] openly discussing the ethical frameworks involved and subjecting them to shared standards of social justice. Otherwise, those who control AI will impose their own moral vision, which will become the invisible infrastructure of these systems. A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few. […] [ about post and transhumanism ] From the perspective of the Church’s Social Doctrine, the key issue is not the use of technology as such, but the vision that underlies it. If the human being is treated as something to be perfected or surpassed, it becomes easier to accept that some lives are less useful, less desirable or less worthy. In the name of progress, “necessary sacrifices” may begin to be justified, placing the burden on the most vulnerable in pursuit of a supposed optimization of the species. […]

Replies (6)

@fullsquare@awful.systems 2026-05-25 12:12

tired: butletian jihad wired: butlerian crusade

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@V0ldek@awful.systems 2026-05-25 14:24

When our enemies are so fucking immoral I have to hand it to the HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC FUCKING CHURCH when the fuck did I enter the twilight zone

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@sailor_sega_saturn@awful.systems 2026-05-25 17:14

I don’t think anyone here is at risk of being tricked into thinking that the pope is their friend (unlike some people on social media…) Under the last pope the church used similar arguments to argue that transgender people are unnatural (unsaid part: and probably shouldn’t be given healthcare). It’s hard for me to read this without thinking about that backdrop: Desiring a personal self-determination, as gender theory prescribes, apart from this fundamental truth that human life is a gift, amounts to a concession to the age-old temptation to make oneself God, entering into competition with the true God of love revealed to us in the Gospel.

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@mirrorwitch@awful.systems 2026-05-25 20:22

Seizing “the res novæ of our time” [derogatory] from this

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@fiat_lux@lemmy.zip 2026-05-26 02:03

we must realistically ask ourselves who holds this power today and how they use it… Edging dangerously close to self-reflection there, but quickly pivoted. Technological power thus takes on an unprecedented, predominantly “private” aspect, which makes it even more challenging to discern, govern and direct such power toward the common good… The narrative shows how the city is reborn, not through the initiative of one man, but through the shared responsibility of all… A timely reminder that the Vatican Bank were fighting lawsuits as late as 2010 where they argue they were justified to use filthy lucre from the WW2 fascists they trafficked, because Communists are dangerous. Such dedication to rebuilding demolished cities and the common good. The Church does not claim to assume the functions belonging to the State. On the contrary, she esteems those who serve the common good, and she firmly acknowledges the responsibility that civil institutions hold within society. Doesn’t claim to assume the functions belonging to the State, while being a literal ethnostate, with a bank distributing official Euros, which argues they’re immune from prosecution under the US Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. Fuck right off. The Vatican has just found a new group of fascists willing to fill their coffers as payment for shelter. From the pope’s first address to the college of Cardinals: “In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution" Here we see how the treasury of social teaching manifests. The Church is a laundromat, specializing in whitewashing. I can’t even get past the first full chapter of this shit.

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@lurker@awful.systems 2026-05-26 05:37

I encountered this in the wild over on Reddit about the Pope and AI

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