Yesterday, 75 leaders from technology, business, philanthropy, civil society, the arts, academia, and religion met at the Yale Club in New York City to answer a simple question: What must remain human as artificial intelligence becomes a central part of our lives? I serve as co-chair of this initiative with Fiat CEO Olivier Olivier François, under the auspices of the Vatican’s own Saint Peter for Humanity.
Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas paper delivered in May 2026 broached the topic of safeguarding human dignity in the age of AI. He warned against a technocratic paradigm where efficiency and control are the highest values. He warned that progress must serve the people, not subject them to the control of machines. He worried about the impact of AI on work and the economy, specifically addressing growing economic inequality.
Our group grappled for three hours with important questions such as the Right to Die, the Right to Know the Source of Information, Work and Livelihood, the Future of Education, and the construct of Law and Liberty. We came up with a word cloud that included critical human concepts such as Compassion, Love, Connection, Hope, Dignity, Generosity, Humility, Kindness, Joy and Creativity. There were also specific recommendations from each of the ten tables on how to safeguard human choice in vertical industries such as food, financial services, and defense. An ad will appear in the print and digital versions of The Wall Street Journal on Monday to thank the participants and to go public with our word cloud, allowing the broader public to grapple with the words and vote up or down on their importance.
Our work plan in the coming months is ambitious. I will work with Olivier and legendary advertising copywriter Gordon Bowen on a draft Human Bill of Rights for AI. This will be circulated to our 75 leaders, then to other stakeholders in business, government, academia, and civil society. We will hold two more convenings in London on November 1 and Tokyo in early December to expose the Bill of Rights and the word cloud to further scrutiny. Our aim is to go to the World Economic Forum in Davos in January to seek support from governments and companies, then to Rome to visit with Pope Leo.
Writing in the Declaration of Independence in 1776, Thomas Jefferson declared, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” I summarized our work yesterday as a secular initiative carried out by volunteers without government sanction as in the Paris Accords or Sustainable Development Goals, but with a mandate from the Vatican on behalf of the people. We are building a stool with three strong legs. The business leg is racing ahead with innovation in AI. The government leg is determining national interest and regulatory necessity. The leg for humanity needs voice; we intend to deliver that through the Human Bill of Rights.
Richard Edelman is CEO.
