On Pope Leo’s Encyclical — Letters From Outside the Camp by Carmen Acevedo Butcher

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[00:00:00]And I've already recorded, so we'll just take out the beginning part.

[00:00:03]So, whenever you're ready.

[00:00:05]>> Hi everyone. Hi all friends. We love you so much. I am here actually today in the South Valley in Albuquerque at the CAC.

[00:00:13]So, while we're recording, uh you may hear some motorcycles roar by. You may hear some peacocks calling in the background, and it's all part of our plan.

[00:00:23]>> [laughter] >> So, just to give you a heads-up.

[00:00:26]Today I want to talk a little bit about the Pope's uh Magnifica Humanitatis, magnificent humanity. And what I'm hoping is if I give you a few excerpts from it and a little bit of a surprise later about it, if you haven't read it yet, that you'll be inspired to read it.

[00:00:45]It's really easy to read. It's a joy to read, and he's meeting the moment. It has much kairos. Um I teach at a university, and in my class it's titled the meme and the human and AI digital literacies. And one of the things we do is talk about We ask actually, what does it mean to be human? And guess what?

[00:01:09]That's exactly what his encyclical is all about. So, I want to look at my notes a minute here. So, the reason I think it is worth reading, uh it is a deep thinker's take on slowing down and considering AI beyond how much money it can make a handful of people at the cost to so many millions. And I really do think it will help us to ask, what does it mean to be human? So, I would ask you right now, what to you does it mean to be human? And I want to look at uh a few of the things he says in it.

[00:01:43]One of the things he says in it is that the human person is made in the image of God.

[00:01:49]Now, if we really sit with that, wow, that will blow our socks off.

[00:01:54]And uh I struggled with this for such a long time. Um, you know, dealing with self-loathing and uh, out of depression and such and uh, as a trauma survivor.

[00:02:05]But, wow, once I really got the hang of this, uh, I just walk around thinking, "Wow, God made me and God loves me and I'm made in God's image." So, one of the things I think we can ask ourselves is, "What does it mean to be made in God's image in an age of AI?"

[00:02:24]And the Pope asked that really and he even puts a huge emphasis as all my favorite mystics do. He must be a mystic. On the Trinity that we have within us, uh, the Trinity and we are part of the Trinity. Uh, we are dancing with the Trinity in perichoresis. We're dancing there.

[00:02:42]Uh, and then he talks about God as love as being part of the social doctrine.

[00:02:49]So, God as love is why Jesus stands in solidarity with the suffering of others.

[00:02:55]And he's talking about this because he's about to launch us into and what does AI do to all of that?

[00:03:03]He says, "At the heart of the Christian understanding of the human person lies the great biblical affirmation that men and women are created in the image and likeness of the triune God.

[00:03:16]Created for relationship."

[00:03:19]And you know, I'm actually going to break the fourth wall here. I'm sitting here with Paul Swanson.

[00:03:24]And Paul Swanson is known at CAC and beyond for saying, "We want to go at the speed of relationship." And that's what the Pope is saying. He agrees with Paul.

[00:03:33]"Created for relationship, every human person is planned and willed by God to enter into communion with God, with others and with creation." He sounds very Franciscan there, doesn't he? I know, um, he's not exactly, but uh, very, very like St. Francis.

[00:03:51]"Human dignity does not depend on a person's abilities, wealth, or position in life, nor on the right or wrong choices made.

[00:04:01]Instead, it is a gift that precedes and transcends each person, endowed by God as an expression of his unfailing love.

[00:04:09]Now, that is good news.

[00:04:12]Capitalism does not tell us that.

[00:04:15]Capitalism says, "Only if you produce are you worth something. Only if you don't mess up are you worth something."

[00:04:21]But, that's not the way God works. And so, I really appreciate that. He talks about the equal dignity of all persons.

[00:04:28]He also, um, talks about how uh, I have a couple of other ones I want to read before I get to number 213, which is my favorite. We're We're moving there.

[00:04:38]He says, this is how he starts it out.

[00:04:41]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. So, what I love about that is like when I was in therapy in my late 40s, and my therapist used to irritate me to no end, and that's you when you know you have a good therapist if they're kind. She used to say, "Carmen, you always have a choice."

[00:05:07]I was like, "Really? You're kidding me.

[00:05:10]I don't feel like it." But, the Pope is reminding us we have agency. We We have a choice.

[00:05:15]And here are some of the key questions he wants us to consider.

[00:05:20]He says, "Ultimately, the key question," and this is from the encyclical, "remains the one posed by St. John Paul II. Does AI make human life on Earth more human in every aspect of that life?

[00:05:34]Does it make it more worthy of people?"

[00:05:38]If the answer is yes, then we can recognize it as an opportunity to be embraced responsibly on a path of patient, shared reconstruction akin to the rebuilding of Jerusalem.

[00:05:50]If, however, power grows while the heart withers and human bonds fray, then we are faced with a new form of Babel, a construction that is grandiose yet fundamentally dehumanizing. And this is one thing I love about Pope Leo is he's always talking about humanizing each other. And Father Richard says this, too. He says, "We are spiritual beings."

[00:06:15]The harder thing to do is to be a human being.

[00:06:19]That has meant a lot to me. So, my goal daily is to be a human being.

[00:06:24]It's both easier and harder. It's like I'm just having to do and be what I am already. And also life throws me some curveballs. So, you know, with from within and from without.

[00:06:37]Then he says, "In a world where data, computational resources, and regulatory influence, uh to speak of the universal destination of goods means finding ways of ensuring universal access to both technologies and the education needed to use them."

[00:06:53]So, one of the things he's saying throughout his encyclical or his message, I think of it as a long sermon with numbers for paragraphs, you know, well written, uh is will there be equal access?

[00:07:05]Now, I see this in the classroom.

[00:07:08]So, for example, the students who have more resources, they can afford the better AI. And the better AI produces better quality writing, research, documents. I I really think we need to think about this. What does this mean for access? When there's a new technology, usually the access goes to the people who have money.

[00:07:30]And uh the rest of us, right? Like when when when it first came out, I was like, "Oh, I don't want to buy it. I just want to test it out, right?" And so, I was using the free version. And boy, it had a lot of kinks to it. A lot of hallucinations.

[00:07:45]Like I asked it once, uh who is Brother Lawrence? And I read it going, boy, I don't think Nick would like this answer.

[00:07:51]You know, Brother Lawrence.

[00:07:52]So, so we need to consider that just because it's a new technology, everybody doesn't get it.

[00:07:58]The best versions of it go, you know, to those who can afford it. So, it's kind of like when there's a book fair that comes to school, some kids buy erasers, I remember this, um from back in the day when my kids were young, and some kids can buy the books.

[00:08:15]And we want it to be equitable.

[00:08:18]He also uh says to speak of solidarity.

[00:08:22]I love this pope, uh how he talks of this. To speak of solidarity obliges us to recognize the hidden, often exploited workers who sustain algorithmic systems.

[00:08:35]To speak of justice requires questioning the global distribution of power that decides who in fact can train these models and who is merely subjected to them.

[00:08:45]Likewise, it means acknowledging that social justice is not only a goal to be safeguarded after technologies are deployed, but a condition that must shape their very design from the outset.

[00:08:59]So, I really appreciate Pope Francis uh outlining for us that this is about our humanity.

[00:09:06]And what does it mean to be human? And I want to get to number 213. I've got to find it cuz since I'm traveling, I don't have it all in one spot like I usually do. So, where is it?

[00:09:17]All right.

[00:09:24]I'm just You know what I'm going to do?

[00:09:26]I'm going to look it up, if you don't mind waiting just 1 minute, cuz I got it on my phone.

[00:09:31]So, you can go to the Vatican.va.

[00:09:34]And if you go to number 213, that's where he hid a little, you know, Easter egg.

[00:09:41]It's really wonderful.

[00:09:42]So, number 213, he starts talking about this Catholic writer you may have heard of called J.R.R. Tolkien. Once I took some students to England and we went by J.R.R. Tolkien's house where he wrote The Lord of the Rings and I just have to say that the day we're recording this is Jim Finley's birthday.

[00:10:03]And his family is bringing him a Gandalf outfit, so that's really kind of cool, which will make sense why I mentioned that in just a minute.

[00:10:11]So, here's what he says in number 213.

[00:10:13]The 20th century Catholic author, J.R.R.

[00:10:16]Tolkien, in the words of a protagonist, he does not name the protagonist. I'm going to ask you, do you know who it is?

[00:10:23]In the words of a protagonist in one of his novels, described our responsibility in this way.

[00:10:28]It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the sucker of those years wherein we are set uprooting the evil in the fields that we know so that those who live after may have clean earth to till.

[00:10:48]The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture.

[00:10:54]Now, this is the Pope again. That was That was the figure from Tolkien. The civilization of love will not arise from a single or spectacular gesture, but from the sum total of small and steadfast acts of fidelity that serve as a bullwark against dehumanization.

[00:11:12]Oh, that's that's good teaching.

[00:11:15]Um, and that person he's talking about from Tolkien is Gandalf.

[00:11:21]It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do as we say as CAC what is mine to do.

[00:11:28]But, you can find that in Tolkien. And the last point I want to make is he talks about the need to disarm words.

[00:11:36]So, one of the things I'm sure you've noticed, I've noticed is that often our words are in the news or in other places like social media are dehumanizing of others.

[00:11:47]And he says this at 2:14, right underneath the Gandalf paragraph. I think in the future it will be called the Gandalf paragraph.

[00:11:55]The first contribution we can make toward a more humane civilization is to be mindful of our words.

[00:12:04]Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world. So, I just want to thank Pope Leo for bringing us this wisdom to grapple with, to discuss, to talk about and think about because we sure do need it.

[00:12:21]Because one of the things my students and I talk about, we talk about it at the CAC and also at the university, is how can we contribute to the greater good?

[00:12:30]And how can we make more resources more accessible to more people?

[00:12:35]Because Jesus says to everyone, "Come and see, come and eat." So, we thank you for being here. We love you and may you be blessed and may you know that God is with you.

[00:12:48]Thank you.