‘Love my woke pope’: Why Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI went viral online

Key points

• Shortly after Pope Leo XIV issued his sweeping manifesto calling for the robust regulation of artificial intelligence, the Instagram meme account Saint Hoax posted a video to its more than 3 million followers about the pope’s call to “disarm” AI.
• “Love my woke pope (I’m not even Catholic),” the caption read.
• In another viral post, one X user referenced a common meme in response to the encyclical, writing: “The atheism leaving my body the moment the pope starts talking about how AI is an affront to God and the new Tower of Babel." That kind of reaction to Leo’s first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), has been prevalent online since its release last week.
• That enthusiasm is driven in part by a perception, especially among young people, that few political or global leaders grasp or take seriously the known and potential ramifications of AI’s rapid rise.
• Leaders often have worked...