Pope Leo XIV has asked if democracy can survive AI. Is he right to do so?

Pope Leo XIV has issued his first major encyclical, and despite headlines claiming it is about AI, this video argues that its real subject is power. Who controls artificial intelligence? Who benefits from it? Who is excluded from decision-making? And can democracy survive when a handful of corporations control the digital systems that increasingly shape our lives? Those are the questions the Pope is really asking. In this video, I explore the political economy behind the Pope’s argument, linking it back to Pope Leo XIII’s response to the industrial revolution in Rerum Novarum in 1891. The comparison is striking: then it was in factories and industrial capitalism that power was concentrated; now it is in algorithms, data centres and platform monopolies. The technologies have changed, but the concentration of power has not. If anything, it has intensified. This, then, is not really a debate about technology at all. It is a debate about democracy, accountability, ownership, inequality, work, and whether governments still govern in the public interest. The Pope argues that human beings must never be reduced to data points or economic inputs. He warns that AI cannot make moral judgments, and that technological progress without democratic control risks deepening inequality and undermining freedom itself. At the same time, he is also asking whether elected governments still have meaningful authority when unelected corporations increasingly control the infrastructure through which information, communication and decision-making now flow. The encyclical raises profound questions. It challenges the idea that technology is neutral, and instead insists that all technologies reflect political choices about ownership, governance and power. So, why are governments so reluctant to regulate AI corporations when they know markets do not automatically defend freedom? And why may democratic intervention be urgently required if society is to retain any meaningful control over the future being created around us? Whether you are religious or not, these are among the most important political economy questions of our time. Take a look at the poll below:    • Post   The Debate Ammunition for this video is available here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2... TRANSCRIPT A transcript for this video is available at: https://www.taxresearch.org.uk IF YOU WANT TO WRITE TO YOUR MP ABOUT ISSUES IN THIS VIDEO If you want to write a letter to your MP on the issues raised in this blog post, there is a ChatGPT prompt to assist you in doing so, with full instructions, here. https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2... HOW TO SUPPORT US Please consider donating: https://ko-fi.com/taxresearch ABOUT RICHARD MURPHY Richard Murphy is Emeritus Professor of Accounting Practice at Sheffield University Management School. He is director of Tax Research LLP and the author of the Funding the Future blog. His best-known book is ‘The Joy of Tax’. This video was edited by Thomas Murphy. RICHARD MURPHY ON BLUESKY: https://bsky.app/profile/richardjmurp... OR ON MY BLOG: http://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/ HIT SUBSCRIBE & GET NOTIFICATIONS Subscribe and get notified of new videos released. INTRODUCTION:    • Welcome to my channel - Richard J Murphy -...   PLAYLISTS: The Wealth Series    • The Wealth Series   Ecenomics    • Ecenomics   Britain    • Britain   Tax    • Tax   MMT    • MMT   Money    • Money   Climate Change    • Climate Change   USA    • America and Trump   Labour    • Playlist   The Trump Administration    • Playlist   #richardmurphy #richardjmurphy #economy #economics #accountancy #accounting #tax #uktax #ukeconomy #greennewdeal #uk #money #economy #politics #government #tax #labour #health #life #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #PopeLeoXIV #CatholicChurch #Technology #Democracy #PoliticalEconomy #BigTech #Algorithms #DigitalPower #Governance #HumanRights #Ethics #TechRegulation #Power #Capitalism #Data #Inequality #FutureOfWork