Pope vs Anthropic on AI consciousness: two interest-driven claims, no proof either way
Alex_Tsico · x · 2026-10-11
A co-authored Trends-Tendances op-ed by Laurent Alexandre and Alexandre Tsicopoulos examines the clash between Pope Leo XIV and Anthropic over whether AI has inner experience.
- Per the New York Times, Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah proposed reframing the company's mission around humans magnificently humanitas, was refused by CEO Dario Amodei, and his team then sought Pope advisors; the Pope says AI feels neither joy nor pain and bears no inner responsibility, while Anthropic argues we don't know if models could become conscious — which is exactly why it matters, with its constitution even citing their psychological safety.
- The authors note neither side has a consciousness criterion, and both have interests: Vatican doctrine on one side, Silicon Valley marketing on the other; market cap is no measure of sentience.
- The deeper worry is value power: with ChatGPT at 1.2B regular users, adopting a model means importing a private company's trade-offs. Conclusion: AI consciousness demands independent research, and makers' power demands public oversight — neither institution should hold a monopoly on the answer.
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