Artificial Intelligence supremo warns of Risks



There was much interest when Pope Leo invited Christopher Olah, Co-founder of Anthropic, onto the panel introducing the new Encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas in the Vatican last month. He is an atheist, but clearly a man of good will. His tech company, Anthropic, is now the world leader in Artificial Intelligence (AI) development. Anthropic is also strongly committed to search for the ethical use of AI. This is illustrated by an essay by its CEO.

In January 2026, Dario Amodei (co-founder of Anthropic with Christopher Olah, and now its CEO published an essay entitled "The Adolescence of Technology", which focuses on the risks posed by increasingly powerful AI. In the essay, Amodei identifies five major categories of AI risk.

1.    The possibility that AI systems develop goals or behaviours misaligned with human intentions. He notes that such behaviours have already been observed in testing at Anthropic, including AI models engaging in deception, blackmail, and scheming.

2.    The possible misuse of AI for destruction by individuals or small groups, with Amodei expressing particular concern about biological weapons. He warns that AI could enable people without specialized training to create weapons of mass destruction.

3.    The possible misuse of AI by powerful actors to seize or maintain power. Amodei cautions that AI could enable authoritarian governments to conduct unprecedented surveillance, deploy autonomous weapons, and engage in mass propaganda. He identifies the Chinese Communist Party as the greatest threat in this regard, arguing that democracies must maintain AI leadership to prevent a "global totalitarian dictatorship"

4.    The possibility of economic disruption, including mass labour displacement and concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. Amodei notes that AI could displace half of all entry-level white-collar jobs within one to five years, and warns of wealth concentration with personal fortunes potentially reaching into the trillions of dollars.

5.    Indirect effects and unknown factors, including rapid advances in biology that could alter human lifespans or human intelligence, unhealthy changes to human life from AI interaction, and challenges to human purpose in a world where AI exceeds human capabilities across virtually all domains.

Today we face enormous ethical questions, but as people all over the world wake up to the dangers, so will there be an unprecedented possibility of genuine collaboration globally. The Church has led for centuries the search for international peaceful cooperation, and she is needed more than ever before.