On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV released an encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas, which addresses the safeguarding of human dignity within the context of artificial intelligence. During the announcement in Vatican City, the founder of Anthropic participated to discuss the updated Constitution for Claude, a governance document designed to guide the model's safety and ethics. Despite their shared intent to address AI-related societal challenges, both the encyclical and the constitutional document completely omit any mention of the customer. The encyclical primarily frames its concerns around the dignity of workers, the prevention of digital slavery, and the mitigation of unemployment. Similarly, the Constitution for Claude defines helpfulness in service to principals and users—typically internal employees within organizations—rather than external consumers.

This focus on producer and worker protection echoes outdated industrial-era priorities. According to David Graeber’s 2018 book, Bullshit Jobs, between 30% and 50% of work in large organizations may lack meaningful purpose. Without prioritizing customer-centric outcomes, moral and governance frameworks risk inadvertently providing justification for unproductive labor. High-performing organizations, such as Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, and e.l.f. Beauty, contrast this inward focus by centering operations on long-term customer value, networks of competence, and adaptive mindsets.

The failure to integrate a customer-focused perspective carries several implications. It shifts moral discourse to prioritize producer protection, which can entrench inefficiency and weaken external accountability. Furthermore, it risks directing AI development toward optimizing internal metrics rather than delivering genuine economic value. By ignoring the customer, both the Church and Anthropic miss an opportunity to recognize that successful value creation—through lower prices, better products, and innovation—is a significant force for human dignity and poverty reduction. A more robust moral framework should empower customers as the ultimate arbiters of value, ensuring that AI development and organizational goals remain aligned with the needs of those they serve. The author argues that true subsidiarity, the principle of devolving decisions to the smallest competent unit, must include the lived judgment of customers to be fully realized.

On May 25, 2026, Pope Leo XIV released an encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas, which addresses the safeguarding of human dignity within the context of artificial intelligence. During the announcement in Vatican City, the founder of Anthropic participated to discuss the updated Constitution for Claude, a governance document designed to guide the model's safety and ethics. Despite their shared intent to address AI-related societal challenges, both the encyclical and the constitutional document completely omit any mention of the customer. The encyclical primarily frames its concerns around the dignity of workers, the prevention of digital slavery, and the mitigation of unemployment. Similarly, the Constitution for Claude defines helpfulness in service to principals and users—typically internal employees within organizations—rather than external consumers.

This focus on producer and worker protection echoes outdated industrial-era priorities. According to David Graeber’s 2018 book, Bullshit Jobs, between 30% and 50% of work in large organizations may lack meaningful purpose. Without prioritizing customer-centric outcomes, moral and governance frameworks risk inadvertently providing justification for unproductive labor. High-performing organizations, such as Nvidia, Netflix, Microsoft, and e.l.f. Beauty, contrast this inward focus by centering operations on long-term customer value, networks of competence, and adaptive mindsets.

The failure to integrate a customer-focused perspective carries several implications. It shifts moral discourse to prioritize producer protection, which can entrench inefficiency and weaken external accountability. Furthermore, it risks directing AI development toward optimizing internal metrics rather than delivering genuine economic value. By ignoring the customer, both the Church and Anthropic miss an opportunity to recognize that successful value creation—through lower prices, better products, and innovation—is a significant force for human dignity and poverty reduction. A more robust moral framework should empower customers as the ultimate arbiters of value, ensuring that AI development and organizational goals remain aligned with the needs of those they serve. The author argues that true subsidiarity, the principle of devolving decisions to the smallest competent unit, must include the lived judgment of customers to be fully realized.