The Pope's encyclical warning about AI is historically wrong — Leo XIII made the same dire predictions about the Industrial Revolution, and the result was the greatest improvement in human welfare in history.

This Pope said, that this encyclical was mirrored after one done by Leo XIII in 1891. And he invoked that. He even said he chose the name because he's so enamored with Leo XIII. Leo XIII encyclical warned that the Industrial Revolution was going to be bad for people. So let me tell you what happened from 1891 till today. The work week went from over 60 hours to 34 hours globally. Real wages went up 8 to 10X adjusted for inflation. The medium worker now earns more than a doctor did in 1891. Global GDP per capita went from 1,500 to 20K. Child labor in the US went from 18% to 0. Workplace deaths fell by 40X. Life expectancy went up 60%. And global poverty went from 75% of humanity to under 10%. All those things happened because of technology, innovation, and capitalism, which is exactly what Leo the 13th was warning against. So he got it dead wrong. He got the whole thing precisely wrong.

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