Anthropic's Lobbying Efforts to Persuade the Vatican Regarding AI Consciousness
Anthropic lobied the Vatican to accept artificial intelligence consciousness; Pope Leo XIV, however, rejected these claims.
Christopher Olah, co-founder and senior researcher at Anthropic, conducted intensive lobbying in the Vatican and religious circles to promote the thesis that artificial intelligence models think and feel. However, these initiatives were met with official documents and statements by Pope Leo XIV firmly rejecting artificial intelligence consciousness.
Secret Meetings and Vatican Contacts
The Anthropic team met with religious scholars around the world, organizing secret and non-disclosure agreement-backed meetings to argue the possibility that artificial intelligence models could be conscious. Within this scope, the company aimed to persuade the Pope, one of the most prominent religious leaders worldwide.
Pope Leo XIV's View on Artificial Intelligence
Pope Leo XIV issued his first papal encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas," defending the sanctity of human life in the age of artificial intelligence. The encyclical clearly emphasized that artificial intelligences do not experience things, lack physical bodies, do not feel joy or pain, and do not know what love means.
Tension at the Vatican Event
Vatican officials invited Anthropic as an event speaker because they prioritized ethical issues. While CEO Dario Amodei declined the invitation, Christopher Olah participated, reviewed the upcoming encyclical in advance, and reacted to the Pope's complete rejection of artificial intelligence consciousness.
Statements After the Conference
Speaking during the event, Olah claimed that they found structures similar to human neuroscience and reached evidence of introspection. Pope Leo XIV maintained his stance, stating that machine-produced artworks lack the human spark and consist solely of statistical calculations.