Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah warned Monday that artificial intelligence could displace human labor on a very large scale [1].
The warning highlights the growing tension between rapid technological advancement and economic stability. As AI capabilities expand, the potential for mass unemployment creates an urgent need for systemic safeguards and ethical frameworks to protect the global workforce.
Olah spoke in Vatican City during the presentation of Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical on artificial intelligence, titled "Magnifica Humanitas" [1], [2]. During the event, he said that the trajectory of AI development should not be left solely to the corporations creating the technology.
"AI must be guided from outside big tech," Olah said [1].
He called for a governance model that includes governments, civil society, and religious leaders to ensure the technology serves the common good. Olah said that the scale of potential disruption requires a coordinated response that transcends the interests of private industry.
Beyond governance, Olah addressed the economic fallout of automation. He said that the loss of livelihoods for millions of people would not be a mere market shift but a crisis of ethics [3].
"There is a real possibility that AI will displace human labour at a very large scale," Olah said [2].
He said that the responsibility for those who lose their jobs to machines would fall on the global community. He said that the transition period for the workforce must be managed with compassion and structural support [3].
"It will be a moral imperative to support those displaced by AI," Olah said [3].
The statements came on May 25, 2026 [1], coinciding with the Catholic Church's formal entry into the AI policy debate through the Pope's new encyclical.
“"AI must be guided from outside big tech."”
The call for oversight from a high-ranking AI executive at the Vatican signals a shift in the industry's discourse. By framing AI displacement as a 'moral imperative' rather than a technical challenge, Olah is aligning the tech sector with global ethical and religious institutions. This suggests that the industry recognizes that market forces alone cannot manage the social instability caused by mass automation, potentially paving the way for international regulatory agreements or universal basic income discussions.
