The AI Pope?

AI’s Human Crossroads: From Workers’ Rights to Digital Labor—And the Jobs, Ethics, and Industries Redefined in the Revolution

Author

Malcolm Frank, CEO
May 12, 2025

 

We have a new Pope, and it seems he selected his name because of…AI?  

Pope Leo has identified AI as a - if not the - defining challenge for humanity.  He drew inspiration from Pope Leo XIII who, in 1891, wrote Rerum Novarum (“Of Revolutionary Change”)—a landmark letter reflecting on the upheaval the Industrial Revolution brought to workers and society.

Obviously, Pope John Paul didn’t have much to say about Client/Server. Benedict was mum on Mobile, and Francis on Cloud.  This move certainly puts the size and scale of the AI shift in perspective, when Leo XIV is dedicating himself to, and naming himself for, the economic shifts that AI is about to render.  

Then again, the new Pope is a White Sox fan—so his judgment isn’t entirely beyond question.

Why Pope Leo chose his name: AI, workers’ rights, new Industrial Revolution

Leo said that the world now faces new hurdles to workers’ rights — and humanity more broadly — due to the rise of AI.

“AI is already eating its own.” Prompt engineering is quickly going extinct“

Fast Company interviews TalentGenius CEO Malcolm Frank on the rapidly changing job landscape.  

Why AI agents will trigger the biggest workplace revolution in 25 years

Imagine a future when the distinction between human and digital workers becomes increasingly blurred. 

AI agents: From co-pilot to autopilot

An in-depth look at the hype and reality around “agentic AI” — the use of AI agents that perform tasks autonomously. 

The two-step continues: CrowdStrike announces 5% job cuts, says AI is “reshaping every industry”

The company is counting on more AI as it builds out its go-to-market and customer service teams. 

The two-step at IBM: Company replaces hundreds of HR workers with AI, according to Its CEO

Its AskHR agent now automates 94% of routine HR tasks, including pay statements.

ServiceNow goes all in on AI agents

The skirmish between ServiceNow and Salesforce over ITSM and CRM might really be a conflict over data, AI agents, and human/digital labor.

Everything we know about how Wall Street is adopting AI, from Goldman Sachs to Point72

High finance tends to innovate with tech years before other industries. Where are they investing in AI today? 

Use AI at work? You might be ruining your reputation, a new study finds

Employees using generative AI tools might not want to talk about it. There are some exceptions, however.

Agent of the Week: Resolve

Streamlines incident resolution and automates root cause analysis.

As Klarna flips from AI-first to hiring people again, a new landmark survey reveals most AI projects fail to deliver

CEO, an advocate of “AI-first” once again recruiting humans after the AI approach led to “lower quality.”

AI-native startups take pride in keeping headcount low

Lex, an AI-powered writing assistant for professionals, has just three employees — and its founder wants to keep it that way, even as the company scales. 

Contrarian view: Why AI will not provide sustainable competitive advantage

AI will transform economies and lift markets as a whole, but lasting differentiation will be built on human creativity and passion.

Google’s AI agent protocol is becoming the language for digital labor

Microsoft is the latest tech powerhouse to adopt Google’s A2A protocol, which helps agents communicate and collaborate.

The Zuck plan: Replace your friends with AI

“I think people are going to want a system that knows them well and kind of understands them in a way that their feed algorithms do.  For people who don’t have a person who’s a therapist, I think everyone will have an AI.”

IBM study: CEOs double down on AI while navigating enterprise hurdles

2,000 CEOs surveyed revealed they expect the growth rate of AI investments to more than double in the next two years, and 61% confirm they are actively adopting AI agents today and preparing to implement them at scale.

And one more thing…

This AI tool may help translate your dog's barks into human language

The translation tool works by collecting various types of data from a target animal, including "voice, body language, behavioural changes."

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