From The Copy Desk: This screenshot demonstrates that computers are indeed imperfect _ a NYT mini crossword cannot be solved in no time. Facts established, we move on to hear what The Boys are complaining about now.
“So everyone’s talking about AI,” Warren said, “We seem a bit short on genuine intelligence these days, so maybe we could use the help.”
Marty wholeheartedly agreed with Warren and they went on to discuss the many ways it has already helped science advance across virtually all disciplines.
“And even Pope Leo has joined in,” Marty said. “His first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, is about AI and it seems that he’s more than a bit worried.”
Warren, having looked up the encyclical for himself for once, said, “Pope Leo is calling for AI to be ‘disarmed,’ warning of ‘new digital slaveries’ and drawing parallels with the Tower of Babel. It’s a lot to digest and I only skimmed through it, but I did stumble across one sweet tidbit. Deep into Chapter V - The Culture of Power and the Civilization of Love - he quotes a J.R.R. Tolkien character.”
Marty, surprised to hear this, snarked, “I’m hoping it’s the spiel about how there’s seven meals day. Then we can feast on and really enjoy our dinner, supper and afters.”
Warren pulled out an iPad and searched down the relevant paragraph, “Here it is paragraph 213, a protagonist describing our responsibilities ‘It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour 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.’”
Marty listened closely and then paused think about for a bit, …. “I’ll guess the quote is from Gandalf the White. Probably from Return of the King.
“This fits nicely with our current obsession with AI. … As the flip side of Tolkien’s philosophy. The tech world’s billions pursue the ultimate technology - one algorithm to rule them all. While the answers lay within each …….”
Hooting, Warren interrupted before Marty got needlessly messianic, “Listen to what I found. It’s Pope Leo again … ‘avoid the ‘Babel syndrome,’ namely the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak, a uniformity that neutralizes differences, and the pretense that a single language - even a digital one - can translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data …’”
Marty could now see the folly of the AI dream and shuddered at the prospect of the bubble bursting - wreaking havoc on the world economy and increasing all the usual sufferings.
From The Copy Desk: My precious copies the Lord of the Rings book seem to have gone missing or we could confirm our guess the Pope is quoting Gandalf. Intrepid travelers are free express their opinions on this in the comments. Stay safe, be well. Love and lettuce.
The quote does indeed come from Gandalf 2 Alabastar Boogaloo, spoken outside the gates of the White City before the last, desperate march to the gates of Mordor. Page 160 of my 2001 Del Rey paperback. It's interesting this was the quote Il Papa chose - it's certainly much less well known than the famous Gandalf line "... what to do with the time that is given to us ..." that he speaks to Frodo in Bag End (in the books) or in the Mines of Moria (in the movie). Suggests to me the White Sox aren't the only thing this Pope might be a fan of. Sainthood might be a bit much, but Servant of God? Venerable? All we have to decide is what to do with the Popes that are given to us, after all.
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