What Gandalf Knew About the Machine | Pope Leo Quotes Tolkien on AI
Why did Pope Leo XIV quote Gandalf in a papal encyclical on artificial intelligence? In May 2026, the Pope placed a line from The Lord of the Rings inside Magnifica Humanitas, and the line he chose was Gandalf's refusal at the Last Debate. This deep dive into Tolkien's legendarium explains why — by unpacking "the Machine," Tolkien's moral category for any apparatus that overrides other wills.We trace the Machine from Morgoth's prototype through Sauron's industry to Saruman's fall, then to the One Ring as externalized will and Gandalf's doctrine of local, mortal, slow work. Along the way…
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