🧠 Foreword from our Executive Director
Two newsletter editions in one day is rare - but yesterday's news from the Vatican demanded a response.
AI Collective holds no affiliation with any religious institution. But when the world's most powerful AI lab and one of the largest religious bodies on earth arrive at the same question from opposite ends of human thought, that's a signal worth pausing for. Pope Leo's encyclical reflects the same reckoning we're building toward.
We hope you enjoy today's piece.
- AJ Green
Three Institutions, One Question: What Does It Mean to Be Human in the AI Era?
Image from MSN
Yesterday, Pope Leo XIV stood alongside Christopher Olah (co-founder of Anthropic) in front of 1.6 billion Catholics and asked the same question we'll be asking at 100+ cities around the world next week.
The question: What does it mean to be human in the AI era?
Two institutions that share almost nothing - separated by centuries, by epistemology, by every conceivable worldview - arrived at the identical conclusion about the most consequential question in human history.
This is the same question that we’ve been obsessed with since the inception of the AI Collective.
AI isn't a technical problem. It's a humanitarian one. Every industry, every person, every community will be affected. And therefore, everyone needs a seat at the conversation.
No amount of model releases, no amount of hyperscaler partnerships, nothing will come close to answering this question if we don't answer it together first.
What Pope Leo and Olah both said
The Pope: "A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few."
Olah: "Some might believe that matters of AI are best handled by computer scientists like myself. They are mistaken."
Two of the most credentialed voices in the world are signaling that the only way to ensure that this technology benefits all of humanity is by having a seat for everyone at the table.
AI will affect us all, and therefore everyone has a role in ensuring that technology and humanity advance in harmony.
This is what three years of building has been for.
Humans in AI Week (June 1-8, 2026) - is 100+ simultaneous events across six continents. We’re making the space for humanity to have the most important conversation of our lives, in our own cities, in our own languages, with the people living this transformation alongside us.
You helped build this. Now it’s time to show up.
Find your event: humansinaiweek.com
— AJ Green
President & Executive Director, The AI Collective
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🧑💻 About the Editors
About Noah Frank
Noah is a researcher, innovation strategist, and ex-founder thinking and writing about the future of AI and the workforce. His work and body of research explores the economics of emerging technology and organizational strategy. Outside of AIC, Noah heads research for Centaurian AI.
About Joy Dong
Joy is a news editor, writer, and entrepreneur at the intersection of AI and blockchain. Whether she is demystifying complex systems in her newsletter, TEA, or building streamlined solutions through her automation agency, Ownly, Joy’s mission is to make emerging tech accessible and actionable for everyone.
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