AI development is driving economic inequality, says tech critic Karen Hao

Pope Leo XIV's recent warning that artificial intelligence risks becoming a new form of colonialism reflects a critique long raised by technology writers and journalists, including Karen Hao, author of Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI. 

In her book, Hao writes that some tech researchers describe their work in religious terms.

Colonialism brings to mind empires of centuries past that took land and resources. In relation to comments made by the pope and analysis in Hao's book, the term colonialism refers to companies exploiting people's data and other resources.

During an interview with Morning Edition, Hao discussed the religious framing used by AI leaders, the economic inequality driving data center protests and what Anthropic's presence at the Vatican announcement really means.

Listen to the full interview by clicking on the blue play button above. and read highlights from the conversation below.

AI leaders are using the language of missionaries

"They say that they are trying to bring progress and modernity, they're trying to benefit all of humanity," Hao said. "Essentially, what they're describing is a heaven."

Some AI executives promise utopian outcomes — from curing diseases to ending poverty and stabilizing the climate — while warning that failure to act will lead to catastrophe. Hao added that framing mirrors the missionary logic that drove historical colonialism.

She said that religion was central to the expansion of historical empires, which makes the pope's intervention all the more "fascinating."

Pope Leo, she said, is "at the top of one of the religions of old" and is now challenging what she describes as the "religions of the new world."

The harm is not just an intellectual exercise 

Critics may dismiss the colonialism comparison, but Hao said the effects are already there and people are already expressing that.

"We are seeing this most prominently with data center protests all across the country. And when I speak with communities that are pushing back against these facilities, it's not a new form of NIMBYism," she shared.

In her analysis, the protests reflect something broader: AI development is concentrating wealth at a time when many Americans are struggling with basic costs. The U.S. is on the verge of producing its first trillionaire, she said, even as the affordability crisis deepens for working families.

AI is shrinking opportunity in economic terms, not expanding it

Supporters of the industry might argue that building on publicly available information is ordinary economic activity. Hao said this argument might have historical precedent but adds the current moment is different.

"In the past, when people would use knowledge that was already in the public domain to facilitate economic opportunity, we said it was a good thing because it actually grew the economic pie for everyone," she said. "But what we're seeing now is it's actually shrinking the economic pie for most people."

Ironically, displaced professionals are building the AI industry that displaced them

She pointed to data annotation from the labor-intensive work of preparing data for AI training as an example. It is now one of the fastest-growing job categories in the United States, increasingly done by college graduates and professionals like lawyers, doctors and scientists. Many also came to the work after AI-driven layoffs eliminated jobs in their original fields.

Some tech leaders admit to her the trajectory is a problem.

"They just admit they do believe that the way that they are currently developing these AI technologies will, in fact, inflame inequality," Hao said.

What about the leaders of Anthropic who showed up for the pope's announcement

"I have not personally spoken with leaders of Anthropic about this particular claim," Hao said. "But at first, when I heard that the Anthropic co-founder would be there, I thought this would be an effort by the company to try to capture this religious institution, the way they've sought to capture the media, policymakers and the public."

She added that the Vatican document itself "doesn't pull any punches" and is "deeply critical of companies like Anthropic."