Pope Leo vs AI: Can Popes Move Markets?

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Professor Federica Genovese of Oxford, Professor Lorenzo Crippa of Strathclyde, and veteran journalist Dave Vetter join host Richard Delevan to discuss Magnifica Humanitas, the papal encyclical being published Monday 25th May 2026. In an unprecedented step, Pope Leo will personally launch the encyclical, joined by theologians, ethicists, and Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah. Genovese and Crippa discuss their research paper, Papal Dividends, which looked at past encyclicals including Laudato Si: Care for our Common Home released by Pope Francis in 2015 and how they affected the market value of companies in sectors mentioned by the encyclical. The Vatican has worked on AI ethics issues for years, but this will be a defining moment of Leo's year-old papacy, tying in concerns about the place of humans in the economy and society, the climate impacts of data centres, the use of AI in warfare including current conflicts in Ukraine, Russia, Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran.

At a time when the backlash against AI is building, Eric Schmidt and others booed at commencement addresses when mentioning AI, and Peter Thiel going to Rome to accuse anyone trying to slow AI down as 'the antichrist', how will Magnifica Humanitas be received?

00:00 AI as Defining Issue

00:38 Pope Leo’s AI Encyclical

02:21 Can Encyclicals Move Markets

06:04 Media Backlash and Polarization

11:06 Measuring the Market Impact

13:46 AI Bubble and Investor Stakes

16:11 How Leo XIV Might Land

20:28 Legitimacy and Public Trust

28:00 Thiel Rome and AI Warfare

34:12 What to Watch Next Week

Read Genovese and Crippa's research, Papal Dividends: https://lorenzo-crippa.github.io/files/papal_dividends.pdf

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