Vatican and AI: the Magnifica Humanitas Under Investigation
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Suspicions of AI in Papal Writing
A recent investigation conducted by Linch Zhang and published on the LessWrong forum has shed light on intriguing elements concerning the drafting of the Magnifica Humanitas, a Vatican encyclical. According to Zhang, certain sections of the document may have been written by artificial intelligence, with contribution rates ranging from 40% to 100% according to the AI detector Pangram.
Zhang's analysis notably highlighted the frequent use of the word "genuinely," a term often associated with writings generated by Claude from Anthropic. This characteristic, which is rarely found in previous papal encyclicals, has intensified suspicions of AI involvement.
Varied Results Depending on Analyses
Another analysis, conducted section by section with Pangram, revealed that 62% of the first chapter of the encyclical could be of AI origin. Meanwhile, The Verge submitted approximately 2,000 words of the document to Pangram, which estimated that 46% was generated by AI.
However, some parts of the text were identified as written by humans. Zhang noted that Pangram flagged several sections as being "essentially 0% AI." Additionally, the first twenty paragraphs of the last four encyclicals were assessed by Pangram with 100% confidence of being written by humans.
The Reliability of AI Detectors in Question
It is important to emphasize that AI detection is not infallible. Results can vary from one detector to another, and even in cases of consensus, accuracy is not guaranteed. Nevertheless, Pangram is widely respected among AI researchers. In March 2025, the tool estimated its false positive rate to be about "1 in 10,000" for human texts flagged as AI-generated.
Encyclicals, these lengthy papal letters, aim to address contemporary moral and social challenges. The Magnifica Humanitas is the first encyclical from Pope Leon, succeeding that of Pope Francis in October 2024, and focuses on the impact of AI. The document was presented by Pope Leon in collaboration with Christopher Olah, co-founder of Anthropic.
The Vatican has not yet responded to requests for comments regarding these revelations.
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