Opinion

Pope Leo XIV’s AI warning speaks directly to Hollywood’s moral crisis

if technology continues advancing while our understanding of human dignity erodes, no amount of innovation will ultimately satisfy the deeper hunger beneath our culture

By Lisa Wheeler Fox News

Published May 29, 2026 5:00am EDT

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Pope Leo XIV warns Silicon Valley on artificial intelligence regulation

Pope Leo XIV sends a message to Silicon Valley, calling for strong AI oversight to ensure the technology serves the common good. Kurt 'CyberGuy' Knutsson discusses the Vatican's meetings with tech leaders including Meta, Google and Amazon.

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For most of my career, I have worked between two worlds that often misunderstand each other: Hollywood and the Church.

At Carmel Communications, my work has largely been about building bridges between them — helping faith leaders take culture seriously while helping artists, filmmakers, and studios recognize the spiritual hunger that still exists inside modern audiences.

That is why Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, affected me so personally.

POPE LEO WARNS AI RISKS BECOMING TOOL OF 'DOMINATION, EXCLUSION AND DEATH' IN NEW ENCYCLICAL

Like many people in media, I’ve spent the last few years watching AI go from something abstract and experimental to something practical and unavoidable. AI is already reshaping how stories are developed, marketed, distributed, and consumed.

Yet as I read Magnifica Humanitas, I realized the document is not ultimately about technology. It is about the human person and whether our culture still understands what human dignity means.

That question feels especially urgent in entertainment and media because storytelling has always shaped culture. Throughout my career — whether working with The Passion of the Christ, The Chosen, Sound of Freedom, Hallow, or other projects rooted in meaning and transcendence — I have seen firsthand that audiences are not simply looking for distraction. They’re looking for stories that speak to real questions — why suffering matters, what gives life........

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