The Magisterium has Jumped the Shark

Magnifica Humanitas demonstrates the terminal incoherence of the Magisterium as expressed by Pope Leo XIV

101. The gains in efficiency and the potential to improve certain services are clear, yet rapidly and uncritically adopting them exposes us to a range of risks, including the tendency to overlook the environmental impact.

It is amazing that this encyclical manages to contradict itself within the space, not of a single article, but of a single SENTENCE. The Pope apparently doesn't understand that EFFICIENCY PRESERVES the environment and reduces environmental impact. That's the whole point of efficiency, son. The more efficient a process is, the less resources it needs to dig out of the environment, the less it needs to manipulate the environment, in order to accomplish the task. He even says this in article 67, but he never connects the dots between the articles. 

67. Furthermore, care for our common home and our responsibility toward the poor and future generations require that the use of the goods of creation and the new possibilities offered by technology be regulated in such a way as to respect the environment, avoid waste and prevent new forms of exploitation.

But then, he makes EXACTLY the same mistake in regards to profits and economics in general. In article 30, he extols Rerum Novarum (a Johnny-Come-Lately encyclical if ever there was one), in part, by saying:

30. Leo XIII’s Encyclical Rerum Novarum constitutes a milestone in the development of the Church’s social teaching. The document places the dignity of work and of workers at the forefront of its reflection; affirms the right to a fair wage for oneself and one’s family; recognizes that persons have a fundamental value that takes precedence over capital and profit;

But he is apparently completely unaware that profit is exactly what happens when a massive number of people express their personal preference for a particular good or service. Profit happens when you allow persons to express their fundamental value by giving them the opportunity to obtain the things they fundamentally value for their own existence. Businesses make profits when their services are valued by massive numbers of people.

72. When it comes to decisions regarding economic flows and digital platforms, as well as the governance of data and algorithms, we cannot allow a handful of actors to dictate these processes on their own; instead, we must build forms of cooperation that respect the various levels of the global community and make them jointly responsible for the common good

Massive profits happen precisely because a massive number of people vote, with their dollars, on which processes they want. By definition, the processes that are controlled only by a handful of actors don't make a profit. The customer has to agree that the process is useful enough to buy, thereby making the entire global community (to whom this process is available) jointly responsible for the common good. 

Dollar spending *IS* communication. People communicate their preferences by voting with their wallet. If you attack profits, you attack one of the major, foundational communication lines people have with each other. 

So, he tells us to treasure communications while he actively attacks the communications (profits) we use, in part, to allocate resources. He tells us to care for the environment and its resources, but for God's sake don't prize efficiency. He reacts towards AI the same way the Holy Office reacted to the printing press. 

It's a fucking stupid encyclical, filled with theological cant, endlessly repeated bromides, in which every article contradicts every other article. 

The Church may one day have something useful to say about AI.
I look forward to that future day.