The Thinker Who Foresaw Pope Leo’s Critique of AI
Ivan Illich's final book critiques the changing relationship between humanity and technology, particularly in the context of cybernetic systems. Pope Leo XIV's encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, echoes Illich's concerns, arguing that technology has become a standard by which everything is judged. The encyclical addresses the implications of artificial intelligence and the competing visions of human transcendence presented by tech elites and the Church.
- ▪Ivan Illich argued that technology has shifted from being a tool to becoming a part of human identity.
- ▪Pope Leo XIV's encyclical critiques the social and political consequences of artificial intelligence.
- ▪The encyclical emphasizes the Church's view on human limitations and the quest for transcendence through faith rather than technology.
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The Thinker Who Foresaw Pope Leo’s Critique of AI Geoff Shullenberger May 26, 2026 Share Share via X Share via Facebook Share via email Copy link May 26, 2026 Share Share via X Share via Facebook Share via email Copy link In his posthumously published final book, The Rivers North of the Future, the social critic, philosopher, and renegade Catholic priest Ivan Illich argued that humanity’s relation to technology had undergone a profound shift in the late twentieth century. In the era stretching from the late Middle Ages through the Industrial Revolution, technologies had been understood as tools subordinate to human intentions—as “something … that can be picked up or not picked up by a person.” But cybernetic technologies, Illich argued, were upending this relationship.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Compact Magazine.
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