Safety
Anthropic's Olah Speaks at Vatican on AI Ethics
Chris Olah, cofounder of Anthropic, addressed the Vatican on AI ethics following Pope Leo's encyclical, emphasizing the need for industry restraint.
Photo: Tima Miroshnichenko / Pexels
Chris Olah, cofounder of Anthropic, spoke at a Vatican ceremony following Pope Leo's historic AI encyclical, which called for 'disarming' the technology. Olah, an atheist who rejected his evangelical upbringing, noted the irony of his presence at the event, which followed a papal warning about AI's potential to create a new form of slavery. 'Every frontier AI lab—including Anthropic—operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing,' Olah said. The encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, aims to spark dialogue rather than immediately halt AI development. Olah's appearance was the result of years of engagement between Catholic ethicists and tech figures, including a 28-page commentary from a pastor on Anthropic's recent update to Claude's constitution. *Source: [wired](https://www.wired.com/story/the-vaticans-man-inside-anthropic/)*
Key points
- Chris Olah, cofounder of Anthropic, addressed the Vatican on AI ethics following Pope Leo's encyclical.
- Pope Leo's encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, warns of AI creating a new form of slavery.
- The encyclical aims to spark dialogue rather than immediately halt AI development.
- Catholic ethicists and tech figures engaged in discussions that led to Olah's Vatican appearance.
- A pastor provided a 28-page commentary on Anthropic's recent update to Claude's constitution.
- Pope Leo emphasized the need to avoid equating AI intelligence with human intelligence.