Crossroads Podcast: The Pope, The Press And AI
As the folks at Merriam-Webster to explain this journalism doctrine, “Don’t bury the lede,” and you will be told:
A lede is the introductory section in journalism and thus to bury the lede refers to hiding the most important and relevant pieces of a story within other distracting information. The spelling of lede is allegedly so as to not confuse it with lead (/led/) which referred to the strip of metal that would separate lines of type. Both spellings, however, can be found in instances of the phrase.
This brings us to the final — yes, the final — sentences in the New York Times piece that served as the hook for this week’s “Crossroads” podcast. The magisterial headline on that story proclaimed: “Pope Leo Warns of Risks From A.I. in 42,300-Word Encyclical — The document marks a powerful foray by the leader of the Roman Catholic Church into the debate about the misuse or overuse of artificial intelligence.”
The story focuses, about 90% of the time, on parts of “Magnifica Humanitas,” Latin for “magnificent humanity,” that can be seen as papal marching orders to corporate leaders, politicians, Big Tech gurus and even the leaders of power blocs such as the European Union and the United Nations.
Then, at the very end of the Times report, there is this byte of wisdom (which I am convinced was added by a religion-beat professional):
Others said that an encyclical’s primary targets are the clergy and the faithful.
“I don’t think the ‘tech bros’ in Silicon Valley will listen that much,” said Prof. Noreen Herzfeld, director of a program on technology and ethics at St. John’s School of Theology and Seminary in Collegeville, Minn. “But I think within the church, it will be there as a reference for priests and bishops and particularly for those of us who are educating seminarians or young people.”
Say what? You mean that Pope Leo XIV, when addressing a topic directly linked to the smartphones carried by the vast majority of the human race, may have wanted to offer some guidance to priests, parents, counselors and Catholic teachers (maybe even seminary professors)?
You see, that Merriam-Webster wisdom quoted earlier contained a troubling phrase, when viewed through a journalistic lens. The goal is not to bury the “most important and relevant pieces of a story.” Ah, but who gets to decide that parts of a papal encyclical are the “most important and relevant pieces”?
When you are dealing with a “powerful” figure like the pope, that question is going to answered by editors and writers in elite newsrooms. Truth be told, I want to praise the college of journalism cardinals at the Times for at least letting a religion-beat pro play a role in that process.
Always remember this credo that I have shared many times: “Politics is real. Religion? Not so much.” With these papal document we can add: “Business is real. Corporate power is real. Religion? Not so much.”
In the podcast, I was tempted to read this commentary from Mark Brumley, the president of Ignatius Press and a contributor at the Catholic Answers website. This is from Earthly City, his Substack page. He called this short commentary “Selah” — Hebrew for “pause, rest, interlude, or lift up.”
Yes, the dynamic of the Catholic sphere of the Ultra-Media Culture of the Digital Empire means we will likely see things and hear about Magnifica Humanitas, pro, con, and indifferent, for a while, until the Next Thing. That’s got it’s positive and negative sides. So there will be plenty of time for an extravert such as me to opine, in a multiverse of opinions. Right now, I want to sit with things a bit. Selah.
I will return to the Gray Lady in a moment. Did anyone in the mainstream press capture the essential message of “Magnifica Humanitas”?
To my shock, the sidewalk-level scribes at The New York Post offered this headline: “Pope Leo issues dire warning on ‘anti-human’ AI and new ‘Tower of Babel’ in first encyclical.” The passage is excellent:
Pope Leo, who previously described AI as the biggest challenge facing humanity, noted that the Tower of Babel was a doomed attempt by people to “make a name” for themselves by trying to build a single power and one language as they sought to erect a structure to Heaven.
He said the biblical story is a warning against a plan that “dominates and ultimately dehumanizes,” adding that instead, AI’s development should be shaped by diverse opinions and groups. …
“The primary choice is not between a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem,” the pope wrote.
In addition to its main report on the encyclical, the Associated Press did something that I think is highly appropriate — it offered a second piece containing a series of lengthy direct quotes from the document.
Thus, after describing the political and corporate angles of the document, what were the other topics deemed worthy of this attention? Here is the list of those topics, in order of importance: democracy, social media, labor, war, economy, human trafficking, environment.
Oh, there was one more at the end — “youth impact.” Actually, pastors, parents, teachers and counselors may think this topic should be at the top of the list?
Leo called for an alliance among policymakers, educational institutions and families to help navigate the “culture of immediacy and hyperstimulation” created by digital media. He also highlighted how AI amplifies the danger of predation on young people, and warned against having personal mobile devices at too young an age. “Online phenomena such as grooming, blackmail and the sexual exploitation of minors are not uncommon, and are made more insidious by the use of fake profiles, algorithms that facilitate dangerous contact, and AI tools capable of manipulating images and videos,” the pope wrote.
Actually, I think the pope made it clear that the church should be involved, as well.
Back to the Times, where the editors at least hinted at some of the topics that were not included in the main story (I added some bold type):
Although the encyclical includes significant references to scripture and religious teachings, the document in many ways reads like a policy paper from a think tank or a lawmaker.
Leo wrote in detail, for example, of the importance of protecting children, who are particularly susceptible to the warping effects of technology.
“Psychological and psychiatric literature has documented with growing insistence how early and unsupervised exposure to digital devices and social media can negatively impact sleep, attention span, control of emotions and relationships, especially during the most vulnerable stages of life, at times with tragic consequences,” he wrote.
Yes, it is easy to assume that this document can be considered policy wonk material — if the biblical and theological material is excluded from the public square.
Thus, I turned to X discussions by some priests and found these two quotations that I will offer for consideration.
“We must lovingly safeguard the grandeur of humanity bestowed upon us and revealed in its fullness in Christ, the splendor of which no machine can ever replace.”
Then there is this essential quote, which appears to be a thesis statement:
“Humanity, created by God in all its grandeur, is today facing a pivotal choice: either to construct a new Tower of Babel or to build the city in which God and humanity dwell together. Each generation inherits the task of shaping its own era, of guiding history to become a place where the dignity of every person is safeguarded, justice is promoted and fraternity is made possible. Yet every era also runs the risk of creating an inhumane and more unjust world.
Whenever humanity is in danger of marring its true identity, we Christians lift our eyes to the Incarnate God, knowing that it is “only in the mystery of the Word made flesh that the mystery of humanity truly becomes clear.” In Jesus Christ, this humanity in its grandeur becomes the Way, the Truth and the Life, opening the path for each of us to grow toward fullness.”
Maybe that is too long for television, but an elite newspaper could have found a way to make room for that essential material.
Let us attend.