Post by @nixCraft@mastodon.social

Once again Pope Leo XIV has rejected idea of Anthropic that Claude has a soul. He went one step ahead and called to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity.

For those who don't know Anthropic did privately lobby Vatican advisers to take the idea of AI consciousness (Soul) seriously, but Pope Leo XIV completely rejected the idea, firmly stating that AI does not possess a soul, feelings, or a moral conscience https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/10/02/anthropic-lobbied-pope-to-argue-ai-conscious-being/

Tweet from the official Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) reads:

In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity.

Date &time and views of Tweet: 5:00 PM · Oct 2, 2026 · 5.2M Views

Source https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2105983638147891490 — Tweet from the official Pope Leo XIV (@Pontifex) reads: In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity. Date &time and views of Tweet: 5:00 PM · Oct 2, 2026 · 5.2M Views Source https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2105983638147891490

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/10/02/anthropic-lobbied-pope-to-argue-ai-conscious-being/

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Jonathan Schofield

@urlyman@mastodon.social 2 days ago

@nixCraft the teleology of AI seems straightforwardly to be to use non-renewable resources faster. More of everything, all the time, on a finite world.

Which seems intrinsically stupid

Weltzeitgeist

@wackJackle@norden.social 3 days ago

@nixCraft It really bothers me that the catholic Pope is one of the last grown ups in the room who isn't going insane.

pc_magas

@pc_magas@mastodon.social 3 days ago

@nixCraft Makes sense. AI is bust a matrix performing calculation or a vector space.

How can this have a soul tbw???

tinkel

@tinkel@mastodon.social 3 days ago

@pc_magas @nixCraft

You are just an organic circuit where voltage thresholds trigger neurotransmitter dumps. If matrix math can't have a soul, why would a cluster of neurons depolarizing?

Scott Michaud

@scottmichaud@mastodon.gamedev.place 2 days ago

@tinkel @pc_magas @nixCraft Think of it this way.

There is nothing that a GPU can calculate that cannot be done on pencil and paper.

The conversation that you're having with a GPU is purely determined from input and output math. You can chain Superman to a chair, given unlimited pencils and paper, and they will produce the exact same conversation. Therefore, if you believe the conversation is the result of a soul, then you must believe the same of the pencil scratches.

Scott Michaud

@scottmichaud@mastodon.gamedev.place 2 days ago

@tinkel @pc_magas @nixCraft Of course you can believe that the GPU itself has a soul, or the pencil has a soul, or a waterfall has a soul, and some combination do not. That's animism. If you want to believe in animism, that's fine.

But that's irrelevant. The conversation is 100% math. Not _modeled_ by math. Not the calculator. It's the actual math. If you believe it was influenced by a soul, then you must believe any calculator that produces identical results is the same.

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Wes Barnett

@barnett@fosstodon.org 3 days ago

@nixCraft “…what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others.” He seems to have a better understanding of how “AI” works than most

Wes Barnett

@barnett@fosstodon.org 3 days ago

@nixCraft “…what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others.” He seems to have a better understanding of how “AI” works than most

Carlos Solís

@csolisr@hub.azkware.net 3 days ago

Fun fact: back when he was known as Robert Prevost, he got a bachelor in mathematics from Villanova University. So yeah, he absolutely knows the principles of neural networks

ozeng

@ozeng@aus.social 2 days ago

@csolisr I was impressed the Pope had a better working knowledge of LLMs than most techbros, but after learning he’s a qualified Mathematician I’m still impressed the Pope has a better working knowledge of LLMs than most techbros

Mark Hahn

@markhahn@mastodon.social 3 days ago

@csolisr Hmm, BS math in 1977: not sure why you think he'd have exposure to neural networks. I mean perceptrons had been around a while, but were not exciting or widely-known. Even the applied corner of most math depts, which might have had some access to computers, were not exactly thinking deeply about hardware that learns.

Engine of Creation 🏴‍☠️ 🦜

@goulien@mastodon.social 2 days ago

@markhahn @csolisr
I guess if you want a bachelor in mathematics, „Cybernetics“ by Wiener is a must-read. Such an inspiring book; I read it at 16 years old (now I‘m 44) and it gave me nearly all of the understanding necessary to grasp the basics of „artificial Intelligence“.

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𝔱𝔯𝔷𝔶𝔤𝔩𝔬𝔴 :lattentacle:

@trzyglow@mastodon.social 3 days ago

@nixCraft amen