On The New Things | AI & History with Dr. John Pinheiro

On The New Things | AI & History with Dr. John Pinheiro

From Acton Line by Acton Institute

May 22, 2026 · 53 min · Episode 558

About this episode

Dan Hugger discusses the implications of artificial intelligence in light of Catholic social teaching with historian Dr. John Pinheiro.

Pope Leo XIV has signaled that artificial intelligence will be a defining concern of his pontificate, with an encyclical expected to address it directly. In this three-part series, the Acton Institute's Dan Hugger sits down with scholars across economics, history, and anthropology to ask what Catholic social teaching has to say about the AI revolution, as well as what an encyclical on AI will need to grapple with. Historian Dr. John Pinheiro, director of research at the Acton Institute, sets today's anxieties about AI against the original Rerum Novarum and the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution. Why do people work? What was actually new about the "new things"? And what can Pope Leo XIII's prudential application of principle teach Pope Leo XIV about meeting an information revolution without falling into either Luddism or naïve optimism? Subscribe to our podcasts Watch this podcast here If you’d like to support this podcast, you can help by leaving a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts. If you have questions or suggestions for a future episode, you can email us at podcast@acton.org.

People in this episode

Host: Dan Hugger

Guest: Dr. John Pinheiro

Topics covered

  • artificial intelligence
  • Catholic social teaching
  • history
  • economics
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Pope Leo XIV
  • Luddism

Keywords

  • artificial intelligence
  • Catholic social teaching
  • Pope Leo XIV
  • Rerum Novarum
  • Industrial Revolution
  • Luddism
  • optimism

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Acton Institute

Books & works: Rerum Novarum

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