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Notes on Pope Leo XIV's Encyclical on AI

62 points by pretext 4mo ago

esperent 4mo ago
Earlier post on the actual Vatican document https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48265206 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48265206
Kwpolska 4mo ago
Where are the notes in this post? I can only see a bunch of quotes and zero original thought of the author.
- KPGv2 4mo ago
  Quote selection is, of course, representative of original thought of the author.
  - the-grump 4mo ago
    Still they are not notes, which means GP continues to be valid.
    - KPGv2 4mo ago
      You made me look up the definition of "note." It appears to mean a short piece of writing meant to be commentary or to share information. OP's link looks like it's both of those things. Are you perhaps confusing "note" with "analysis"?
- aabhay 4mo ago
  When you took notes in class was it required of you to add original thought for it to be notes?
  - Kwpolska 4mo ago
    Taking notes in class is akin to making a transcript of what the teacher said in class so you can remember and refer to what was said in class. The encyclical is a written document, so there is no need for a transcript, and "notes" implies commentary and analysis.
- nilirl 4mo ago
  HN has influencers like any other community. In this case, the upvotes are for the author and not the post.
- basisword 4mo ago
  I think it's just a poorly worded title. "Highlights from x" would be more clear. "Notes on" suggests some commentary.
  - simonw 4mo ago
    My original title was actually "Highlights from", then I changed it to "Notes on" because that was a shorter title for linking on social media. Did not expect to get called out for not making it "notes-like" enough! I think including the Vatican News bit about how the Pope chose the name Leo because he planned to think about AI in the same way his predecessor had thought about the Industrial Revolution earns an upgrade to "notes", personally.
    - basisword 4mo ago
      No complaints from me, just trying to explain the confusion. Personally with a 'notes on' I'd expect a full piece of original commentary about the thing (rather than mostly excerpts from the thing) but it's not a big deal.
sometimelurker 4mo ago
I really liked paragraph 153, 3ed down from here (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html#problem_of_unemployment https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/docume...). I just love how it mixes really abstract ideas with actual concrete problems. really well written Also Leo XIV has a degree in math, so he totally gets the interpretability problems with AI on deeper level than otherwise ("...current AI systems are more “cultivated” than “built,...")

62 points by pretext 4mo ago

Earlier post on the actual Vatican document https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48265206 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48265206

Kwpolska 4mo ago

Where are the notes in this post? I can only see a bunch of quotes and zero original thought of the author.

KPGv2 4mo ago
Quote selection is, of course, representative of original thought of the author.
- the-grump 4mo ago
  Still they are not notes, which means GP continues to be valid.
  - KPGv2 4mo ago
    You made me look up the definition of "note." It appears to mean a short piece of writing meant to be commentary or to share information. OP's link looks like it's both of those things. Are you perhaps confusing "note" with "analysis"?
aabhay 4mo ago
When you took notes in class was it required of you to add original thought for it to be notes?
- Kwpolska 4mo ago
  Taking notes in class is akin to making a transcript of what the teacher said in class so you can remember and refer to what was said in class. The encyclical is a written document, so there is no need for a transcript, and "notes" implies commentary and analysis.
nilirl 4mo ago
HN has influencers like any other community. In this case, the upvotes are for the author and not the post.
basisword 4mo ago
I think it's just a poorly worded title. "Highlights from x" would be more clear. "Notes on" suggests some commentary.
- simonw 4mo ago
  My original title was actually "Highlights from", then I changed it to "Notes on" because that was a shorter title for linking on social media. Did not expect to get called out for not making it "notes-like" enough! I think including the Vatican News bit about how the Pope chose the name Leo because he planned to think about AI in the same way his predecessor had thought about the Industrial Revolution earns an upgrade to "notes", personally.
  - basisword 4mo ago
    No complaints from me, just trying to explain the confusion. Personally with a 'notes on' I'd expect a full piece of original commentary about the thing (rather than mostly excerpts from the thing) but it's not a big deal.

sometimelurker 4mo ago

I really liked paragraph 153, 3ed down from here (https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html#problem_of_unemployment https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/docume...). I just love how it mixes really abstract ideas with actual concrete problems. really well written Also Leo XIV has a degree in math, so he totally gets the interpretability problems with AI on deeper level than otherwise ("...current AI systems are more “cultivated” than “built,...")