The rise of AI is putting some otherwise disparate worlds together — and with some interesting results.
Andreessen Horowitz’s Marc Andreessen has deleted a post in which he appeared to be mocking the Pope’s opinions on AI. “Technological innovation can be a form of participation in the divine act of creation,” Pope Leo XIV had posted on X. “It carries an ethical and spiritual weight, for every design choice expresses a vision of humanity. The Church therefore calls all builders of #AI to cultivate moral discernment as a fundamental part of their workâto develop systems that reflect justice, solidarity, and a genuine reverence for life,” he had added.
Marc Andreesen quote-posted this post with the image of Sydney Sweeney’s interviewer. The interview had gone viral a few days ago because the interviewer had appeared to try her best to get Sydney Sweeney to admit some remorse for her viral “good jeans” ad, but Sweeney had expertly deflected the question. The interviewer had come to symbolize the woke, left-leaning media that tries to covertly push its agenda down unsuspecting people’s throats.
It’s not clear why Andreessen felt the pope’s post deserved to be responded to with this image. It’s possible that the pope’s moralizing didn’t sit well with Andreessen — the pope had urged technologists to cultivate moral discernment, and asked them to develop systems that reflect justice and solidarity. Now this is usually language that’s employed by the left, so perhaps Andreessen instinctively associated it with the left-leaning reporter. In any case, Andreessen received some pushback and criticism for the post, and ended up deleting it.
But the pope might’ve made a valid point, especially in the context of AI. AI could end up being the most transformative technology of all time, and could bring about massive changes in the society at large. This would require buy-in from as many sections of the population as possible before such changes are implemented. The tech world is spearheading the technical bits of the AI revolution, but the pope — as the spiritual leader of over a billion Christians around the world — could be given a patient hearing, even if his words sound a bit sermonizing.