Sam Page
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What are we building?

Emerging tech and AI2 min readSam Page

Four words that have stuck with me all week.

They come from Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. A document about AI.

I have spent 20+ years believing in the capability of technology to offer good to people.

And at times I worry we are straying from that path. Social media is one example. AI risks becoming another.

Religious or not, there is some very sound thinking in this document.

That AI imitates intelligence rather than possesses it.

That too much control in too few hands is a problem for all of us.

That technology can't be slowed down, but it can be steered.

And the line that grabbed the headlines: "To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity."

I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with that.

There's one place I push back, though.

The document warns that the ease of getting answers risks extinguishing our desire to ask questions.

As a dyslexic person, I read that differently. For me, ease isn't a temptation. It's access that can enable us to become all we can dream of.

I've written up the elements that stood out for me, where I part ways with it, and why I think it matters for anyone building with or buying AI right now.

Full article below.

Would love to hear your thoughts and what stands out for you.

First published on LinkedIn.

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GEThttps://sam-page.com/thinking/what-are-we-building-2.mdtext/markdown; charset=utf-8

---
title: "What are we building?"
url: https://sam-page.com/thinking/what-are-we-building-2
date: 2026-06-03
author: Sam Page
type: Post or article
categories: [Emerging tech and AI]
reading_time: 2 min
summary: "Four words that have stuck with me all week."
first_published: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3AugcPost%3A7467863641195880448
---

# What are we building?

Four words that have stuck with me all week.

They come from Pope Leo XIV's first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. A document about AI.

I have spent 20+ years believing in the capability of technology to offer good to people.

And at times I worry we are straying from that path. Social media is one example. AI risks becoming another.

Religious or not, there is some very sound thinking in this document.

That AI imitates intelligence rather than possesses it.

That too much control in too few hands is a problem for all of us.

That technology can't be slowed down, but it can be steered.

And the line that grabbed the headlines: "To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity."

I can't imagine anyone disagreeing with that.

There's one place I push back, though.

The document warns that the ease of getting answers risks extinguishing our desire to ask questions.

As a dyslexic person, I read that differently. For me, ease isn't a temptation. It's access that can enable us to become all we can dream of.

I've written up the elements that stood out for me, where I part ways with it, and why I think it matters for anyone building with or buying AI right now.

Full article below.

Would love to hear your thoughts and what stands out for you.