Gary Marcus reports from the Vatican: the Pope's five points on AI
GaryMarcus · x · 2026-10-31
Gary Marcus attended an event at the Vatican and met Pope Leo XIV, reporting on his speech about AI. Marcus calls the Pope the clearest thinker on AI among world leaders and praises his Encyclical Magnifica Humanitas. The speech's five central points:
- AI's future is not pre-determined — the decisive question is not "what can AI do" but "what purpose should it serve"; treating AI as a race forgets those left behind;
- Machines are tools, not persons — AI has no experience, body, or feelings; granting AI rights or legal personhood risks obscuring human responsibility;
- Certain decisions (e.g. putting a person on a target list) must never be delegated to machines;
4-5. Marcus endorses the points fully and adds his own reflections, with a link to the full speech.
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