Slavoj Žižek on AI, digital feudalism, and Pope Leo’s warning about tech power
In this essay, the author argues that today’s AI boom is pushing capitalism toward a form of digital feudalism, where algorithmic power and wealth become concentrated in a few hands. He presents Pope Leo’s encyclical as a sharp critique of this trend, especially its warning that technology is never neutral and should not be controlled by a small elite or left to the free market alone. The piece contrasts that view with Peter Thiel’s pro-regulation-of-regulation posture, his fear of a global “Antichrist-like” system, and his support for hard power built on software. It then shifts into a philosophical argument that human limitation, failure, and mortality are not defects to be erased but conditions that make growth, love, and transcendence possible. The essay ultimately frames Christianity as affirming that transcendence arises through finitude rather than escaping it.
AI, power, and digital feudalism
The essay opens by describing unrestrained, profit-driven AI as a step toward digital feudalism, with wealth and algorithmic control increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few tech monopolies.
Pope Leo’s critique of technology
Pope Leo’s encyclical is presented as a broad warning that technology is never neutral, that it should not be concentrated among a few actors, and that AI development cannot be left to the invisible hand of the market.
Peter Thiel as a counterpoint
The author contrasts the Pope’s position with Peter Thiel’s anti-regulatory politics and his warnings about an “Antichrist-like” global governance system, including tax treaties, financial surveillance, sanctions, and regulation.
Software, hard power, and the state
The essay argues that Thiel’s vision links AI, military power, conservative religion, and state authority, creating a model the author calls a kind of liberal fascism.
Why limitation matters
A major philosophical section claims that failure, vulnerability, illness, aging, and other limits are not merely problems to eliminate, but conditions through which humanity matures and becomes open to relationship and change.
Christianity, finitude, and transcendence
The piece concludes that Christianity radicalizes this insight by treating finitude itself as the path to transcendence, since even God is understood through Christ’s mortal human life.
Key takeaways
- The essay warns that AI may intensify wealth and power concentration.
- Pope Leo is used as a voice against technological centralization and market-only control.
- Peter Thiel is portrayed as an advocate of AI, hard power, and anti-regulatory politics.
- Human limits are presented as essential to love, growth, and transcendence.
- Christianity is framed as affirming finitude rather than escaping it.
Source: Slavoj Žižek, “WHY I AM AN ATHEIST COMMUNIST SUPPORTING THE POPE,” published July 2, 2026, at https://slavoj.substack.com/p/why-i-am-an-atheist-communist-supporting Read the original post on Substack.