{"id":168,"date":"2025-06-20T08:07:44","date_gmt":"2025-06-20T12:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?p=168"},"modified":"2025-06-20T08:07:44","modified_gmt":"2025-06-20T12:07:44","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>Originally written on 5\/13\/2025<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Robert Francis Prevost, the newly elected Pope of the 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newsnationnow.com\/religion\/ap-pope-leo-xiv-lays-out-his-vision-of-papacy-identifies-ai-as-a-main-challenge-for-humanity\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">identified Artificial Intelligence<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"auto\"> (AI) as one of the main issues facing humanity. Cardinal Prevost took the pontifical name of Leo XIV, suggesting he holds special deference to the social and economic teachings of Pope Leo XIII, who held the office from 1878-1903. Pope Leo XIII affirmed the inviolability of private property rights, the requirement for decent wages, and several other principles in his encyclical <\/span><i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Rerum Novarum, Of New Things<\/span><\/i><span data-contrast=\"auto\">, published May 15, 1891. The eleven-thousand-word document outlined and refined the Church\u2019s social teachings on the rights and duties of workers and owners of capital to one another and the larger society, specifically focusing on improving the material conditions of the working classes. The encyclical defies simple ideological classification. It refrains from specific policy advice. Instead, it outlines general principles.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Pope Leo affirmed that \u201c\u2026every man has by nature the right to possess property as his own.\u201d (6) He also recognized that the government had an essential role in property regulation that cannot be set in stone. \u201c\u2026the limits of private possession have been left to be fixed by man&#8217;s own industry, and by the laws of individual races.\u201d (8)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">He grounds private property rights in natural law as distinct from divine command: \u201cWith reason, then, the common opinion of mankind\u2026\u00a0 has consecrated the principle of private ownership, as being pre-eminently in conformity with human nature&#8230;\u201d (11) He goes on to conclude: \u201cThe first and most fundamental principle, therefore, if one would undertake to alleviate the condition of the masses, must be the inviolability of private property.\u201d (15)<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">On wages and working conditions, \u201cLet the working man and the employer make free agreements\u2026(but) that wages ought not to be insufficient to support a frugal and well-behaved wage-earner.\u201d\u00a0 How this principle comports with contemporary notions of \u201cfair\u201d or \u201cliving\u201d wages is not clear, but the Pope was unequivocal: \u201cIf through necessity or fear of a worse evil the workman accepts harder conditions because an employer or contractor will afford him no better, he is made the victim of force and injustice.\u201d (45)\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Pope Leo XIII\u2019s views were neither Karl Marx nor Ayn Rand, neither Communism nor anarchistic Capitalism. We will be very interested to see how Leo XIV builds on Leo XIII\u2019s insights from 134 years ago to consider the economic, social, moral, and spiritual challenges of contemporary technological innovations such as Artificial Intelligence.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;335559731&quot;:720}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally written on 5\/13\/2025 Robert Francis Prevost, the newly elected Pope of the 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, identified Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of the main issues facing humanity. Cardinal Prevost took the pontifical name of Leo XIV, suggesting he holds special deference to the social and economic teachings of Pope Leo XIII, who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[146],"tags":[1541,1540,914,1590,1592,1589,1588,1591,1586,514,1587,961,448,386],"class_list":["post-168","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-catholic-church","tag-catholic-social-teaching","tag-church-history","tag-economic-ethics","tag-labor-rights","tag-moral-philosophy","tag-pope-leo-xiv","tag-private-property","tag-rerum-novarum","tag-social-justice","tag-technology","tag-wages"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Originally written on 5\/13\/2025 Robert Francis Prevost, the newly elected Pope of the 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, identified Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of the main issues facing humanity. Cardinal Prevost took the pontifical name of Leo XIV, suggesting he holds special deference to the social and economic teachings of Pope Leo XIII, who [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Econ Briefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-20T12:07:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"christianhartselle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"christianhartselle\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"christianhartselle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\"},\"headline\":\"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-20T12:07:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":421,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"AI\",\"artificial intelligence\",\"Catholic Church\",\"Catholic social teaching\",\"Church history\",\"economic ethics\",\"labor rights\",\"moral philosophy\",\"Pope Leo XIV\",\"private property\",\"Rerum Novarum\",\"social justice\",\"technology\",\"wages\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Culture\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-20T12:07:44+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/2025\\\/06\\\/20\\\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Econ Briefs\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622\",\"name\":\"christianhartselle\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"christianhartselle\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/people.bsu.edu\\\/econbriefs\\\/author\\\/christianhartselle\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","og_description":"Originally written on 5\/13\/2025 Robert Francis Prevost, the newly elected Pope of the 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, identified Artificial Intelligence (AI) as one of the main issues facing humanity. Cardinal Prevost took the pontifical name of Leo XIV, suggesting he holds special deference to the social and economic teachings of Pope Leo XIII, who [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","og_site_name":"Econ Briefs","article_published_time":"2025-06-20T12:07:44+00:00","author":"christianhartselle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"christianhartselle","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"},"author":{"name":"christianhartselle","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622"},"headline":"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz","datePublished":"2025-06-20T12:07:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"},"wordCount":421,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["AI","artificial intelligence","Catholic Church","Catholic social teaching","Church history","economic ethics","labor rights","moral philosophy","Pope Leo XIV","private property","Rerum Novarum","social justice","technology","wages"],"articleSection":["Culture"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/","name":"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz - Econ Briefs","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-20T12:07:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/2025\/06\/20\/pope-leo-xiv-and-the-ethics-of-ai-by-dr-cecil-bohanon-and-dr-john-horowitz\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pope Leo XIV and the Ethics of AI \u2013 by Dr. Cecil Bohanon and Dr. John Horowitz"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/","name":"Econ Briefs","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/#\/schema\/person\/53f4e0b981fd42f34cbb306b9ad62622","name":"christianhartselle","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/99dffdd2c9bd490eefa22ed0b6d8d8a277b0368e88948df516427d91d6bf8ea5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"christianhartselle"},"url":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/author\/christianhartselle\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/people.bsu.edu\/econbriefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}