Louis Kim, former Vice President of AI at HP (Hewlett Packard), spoke on “The Irreducible Encounter: Reflections from 20 physicians, theologians, and executives on the last roles of humans in the world of AI” at the Acton Institute Conference, “Artificial Intelligence, Human Dignity and the Free Society,” which took place at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome on Thursday, December 4, 2025.

In 1891 Pope Leo XIII published Rerum Novarum, responding to the “new things” of his era and launching a corpus of modern Catholic social teaching. Pope Leo XIV’s choice of name and his early remarks signal that he thinks we are living in a similarly historic moment of social, cultural, and economic upheaval which will be driven by rapid advances in technology, including artificial intelligence. This conference featured talks by experts in technology, theology, economics, and business to examine what the world needs today to traverse the complex problems which confront humanity.