Guests: Paul Steidler, Jan Edwards

America's First Pope: How Pope Leo XIV's Technology Background Could Shape the Future of the Church

The Villanova Connection: A Pope with a Mathematics Background

Paul Steidler, a senior fellow at the Lexington Institute, a public policy think tank based in Arlington, Virginia, offers unique insight into Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. As fellow Villanova University alumni, Stidler can speak to the significance of the new pope's educational background and what it means for the Catholic Church's approach to modern challenges.

"The pope is a member of the Augustinian Order and Villanova is the only Augustinian University in the United States," Steidler explains. "The Augustinians embrace reason and science as being fully compatible with Scripture."

Pope Leo's selection comes with a clear vision for addressing modern technological challenges. "What's particularly intriguing about Pope Leo XIV is two days after he became pope, he addressed the College of Cardinals and said a principal reason for choosing his name was AI, the advent of artificial intelligence," Steidler notes. "He cited the fact that much like his predecessor Leo XIII who was dealing with changes from manufacturing and an industrial revolution, there were major issues economically with human dignity and human justice related to AI."

The new pope's mathematics degree equips him with a unique perspective. "He is not someone who is going to fear science. He's not someone who's going to try to take us back to an agrarian society," Steidler emphasizes. "And he knows that there's a lot of good that can be done from AI and I think also a lot of harm that can be done, principally by the Chinese government, the Communist Chinese government, which is our rival in the race for AI."

Vatican-U.S. Relations and China Concerns

Pope Leo XIV's American background and technological understanding may prove pivotal in navigating geopolitical challenges, particularly regarding China. As Villanova President Peter Donahue highlighted, the new pope "comes from the Augustinian tradition of embracing reason and science to be fully compatible with scripture."

The Vatican faces significant challenges with China, and the new pope's background may position him well to address these concerns. "He knows the nonsense that the Chinese government is pulling on, interfering with bishops being appointed and effectively detailing some others," Steidler notes, referencing Pope Leo's previous Vatican role dealing with administrative matters on bishops.

This expertise could be crucial as the Vatican navigates complex relationships with China. "He knows the importance of that challenge in China and the threats that China poses, not only on the AI front, but to the aspiration of people for freedom generally," Steidler explains.

The Catholic Church finds itself in a better position when aligned with nations that support religious freedom. "American values are better than Chinese values, and folks at the Vatican and people of faith benefit as a result of that," Steidler states. "The church is persecuted in China. It's still able to function somewhat, but it's persecuted. It has problems in the U.S. with the culture and people tuning out, but the Vatican is in a better place when the United States is a strong country."

AI Development and Ethical Implications

The implications of AI advancement extend far beyond the Church, touching on fundamental aspects of society from food production to healthcare. Steidler emphasizes that AI development must align with ethical principles and serve human dignity.

"AI allows for medicines to be developed and assessed and even tested out more quickly than they could be previously. It gives insight into ways to grow foods better and more efficiently," Steidler explains. "And one of the reasons that it's so important that the United States [wins] the AI race, is that we have a competitive economy. We have different ways in which things can be developed and in which different things can be assessed."

The potential for AI to revitalize American manufacturing is significant. "If we're going to become a manufacturing mecca again, one of the key steps for that is to do the design work better and more efficiently. And AI is critical to that," Steidler notes. "AI is also important for the U.S. to have a manufacturing renaissance as well as just developing a lot of unique scientific breakthroughs."

Integrating human expertise with AI technologies remains essential. When asked about incorporating the wisdom of experienced professionals into AI systems, Steidler responded, "AI is a tool. It is going to give you some general indications of things, but it is not infallible. And it can work much better if there are people with knowledge about a subject, technical knowledge and experience in the area who are driving those areas."

He continues, "It is absolutely critical that people who have accomplished scientific backgrounds, that we don't lose their knowledge, but that we find ways to integrate it in with AI and integrate it with continuous learning."

This integration creates new opportunities for experienced professionals. "Another thing about AI is it underscores the need for excellence in a profession and it provides many opportunities for those folks who are getting up there in years in those 60s and 70s to be able to continually work," Steidler notes. "There's frankly not as much drudgery that you have to do on the R&D side of things as there was before, and you can focus mentally on the highest and best things to undertake with your time."

The Pope's Role in Global Affairs

While the pope's influence may be limited in certain geopolitical conflicts, his moral voice remains significant. Regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Stidler suggests, "The best way, frankly, the pope may be able to influence that is by prayer and by speaking out morally for the need for peace there."

The Vatican has facilitated important diplomatic meetings. "The Vatican has served as a backdrop for President Trump recently, for example, to meet with President Zelensky," Steidler points out. "The Ukrainian community has also found a lot of comfort in the new pope, a lot of reassuring words about the suffering that they have gone through there."

However, the pope's most significant impact may be on AI ethics. "Just getting back to the issue of AI, that's something where there's enormous social and labor consequences that come into play there, and the Vatican's insights on that and supportive policies in that regard that are much more in line with American values is something where I think there can be an even greater impact," Steidler concludes.

The Take It Down Act: Landmark Legislation to Combat Online Exploitation

Fighting Revenge Porn and Online Exploitation

Jan Edwards, founder and president of Paving the Way Foundation, joined from Washington D.C. to discuss the signing of the "Take It Down Act," a landmark bipartisan bill signed into law by President Trump that makes it a federal crime to post real and fake sexually explicit imagery online without consent.

"One of the most powerful things about that piece of legislation is the threat of sending your non-consensual intimate images someplace," Edwards explains. "So just the threat can put someone in jail for three years, and it can be a felony."

This law addresses a dangerous form of online exploitation that particularly affects young people. "When our children make that one mistake, and we've all been there...what they're facing is long-term trauma, because once you send a picture, that picture now is on that other person's phone, and they can basically do anything they want to with it," Edwards explains.

The signing ceremony brought together bipartisan leaders. "We had Secretary Noem, Secretary Bondi, Secretary Patel...There were several representatives and senators," Edwards notes, highlighting the cross-party support for this legislation.

Edwards emphasizes this essential point: "The beauty of this is it's bipartisan. These are America's children."

Protecting America's Youth Online

The Take It Down Act is part of a broader push to protect children online. Edwards notes this is the most significant legislation in this area for years: "Since the law success that you worked on, oh, so long ago, we haven't had a piece of legislation like this for six years."

Additional pending legislation includes:

The Kids Online Safety Act: "It requires social media companies to provide safeguards and tools for minors and parents, enabling them for like, have the strongest safety measures possible," Edwards explains. "By default, it creates a duty of care for online platforms to prevent and mitigate harm. I.E. dangerous algorithms."

The legislation would also establish transparency standards: "It really establishes a transparency standard by providing both academics and public to be able to come together to look at these platform data to review the harms and what their responses are."

The Defiance Act: This would add civil remedies to the criminal protections now in place. "If someone right now uploads a non-convictual sexual image of you, criminally they can be charged, but civilly they can't be," Edwards explains.

The Trafficking Survivors Relief Act: "It's really establishing vacature for federal crimes committed that were direct results of being trafficked," Edwards explains. This would help survivors by "eliminating barriers by removing all legal fees."

The Preventative Power of Education

The Paving the Way Foundation's educational efforts have reached over 39,000 children with critical information about human trafficking and online exploitation. "We have dialogues. We're not talking heads. We don't do quote presentation. We have conversations with our kids about what is human trafficking? What is exploitation? What's smuggling? What's sex abortion?" Edwards explains.

Edwards cites encouraging data from their follow-up surveys: "18% of them picked up the phone and called a hotline. 23% of them stopped bullying someone. And then 53% of them stepped away from a potentially dangerous situation."

These results demonstrate the power of education. "When kids are given alternative actions to take and they understand the short-term long-term impact, they take it," Edwards emphasizes.

The foundation's approach helps shift children's perspective from vulnerability to empowerment. "We get comments like, 'yes, because other people need to know how important this is.' Yes, because my favorite, 'I want to save the world,'" Edwards shares. "That totally shifts their perspective off of them. If they want to save the world, yes, they'd have to be involved. But then they're focused on a problem that is bigger than them and it takes them out of their smaller world."

The Devastating Reality of Child Exploitation

The discussion highlighted the devastating impact of child exploitation through a specific case. Alicia Navarro, a 14-year-old girl, was groomed by an online predator for years before being abducted and held for four and a half years before being recovered.

"The chance of finding a child after five years alive is less than 1%," Winn notes, underscoring the rarity of such recoveries. The perpetrator in this case received a 100-year prison sentence, but only for child pornography charges - he has never been formally charged with abduction.

The experience left deep trauma. "She believed he was her boyfriend," Winn explains. "She lived with his parents, too. She wanted to go to church on Sundays. So imagine that they took her to church and people in the church kind of knew."

The psychological impact of such exploitation is devastating and permanent. "You cannot fix what gets broken. You can hope that it heals," Winn states. "When you get a child back after they've been gone, the longer that they're gone, the more of them disappears and you lose the innocence and you lose their history and you lose that time with them."

Edwards emphasizes the importance of ongoing advocacy: "I'm gonna invite your listeners to pick up the phone, send an email, get in your car, drive to your state legislators, you know, offices, or come on up to the speed because we're the only country in the world. So you can walk through a metal detector and have a conversation with your representative. And the only way they're going to know how you feel is if you say so."

Addressing Local Political Challenges in Tucson and Arizona

The Importance of Voter Registration and Engagement

With upcoming elections in Tucson and Congressional District 7, Winn emphasizes the critical importance of voter registration and civic engagement. "Please, please, please register to vote. Obviously, we'd like you to register Republican, but just be registered," Winn urges.

The Congressional District 7 special election presents a unique opportunity, as whoever gets elected will only serve for approximately 14 months before the next regular election cycle begins. "This district, CD7, has all three ports of entry that if we've just secured the border, if we've waited four years to secure the border and shut down crime, the people who wanted the border wide open, maybe they shouldn't be in charge for just a short time," Winn suggests.

Winn highlights the socioeconomic challenges facing the district: "CD7 is the poorest congressional district, not only in our state but across the country." She sees the upcoming election as an opportunity to address pressing issues like crime, fentanyl trafficking, homelessness, and poverty.

For the July 15th primary election in CD7, voting starts on June 18th, with a registration deadline of June 16th for those wishing to participate.

Crossroads for Tucson City Leadership

The upcoming Tucson city council elections for Wards 3, 5, and 6 represent another opportunity for change. "My recommendation is let's put some balance on the city council. If you live in the city, insanity would be doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result," Winn states.

Winn points to growing safety concerns in the city: "There's a thing called the loop, I guess people in the city where you can run and it's not safe anymore. I know that and bus stops aren't safe anymore. We've got people being hatcheted, incidences, no guns. Just now we're into hatcheting people."

These public safety issues underscore the need for new approaches. "If policies aren't working, it's not a personal thing. It's not a personal attack. It's just that the policies aren't working and we can do better," Winn maintains.

Moving Beyond Partisan Politics

Throughout the discussions, a common theme emerges: the need to move beyond partisan politics to address serious societal problems. Whether discussing child exploitation or local governance, the emphasis is on problem-solving rather than political posturing.

"I think if we've got a problem, what I love is fighting against crimes against our children, whatever they are, whether it be assaults at a bus stop or grooming someone online. The predators don't give a damn how you vote, they don't care when they are committing crimes, when they're stealing, when they're doing drugs, they don't care," Winn notes.

She advocates for a solution-oriented approach: "We all have our belief systems, but if we can set those aside, not forget them, not dishonor them, but work to bring better solutions to stop the insanity that is happening in our city, I think that that could go a long way."

The bipartisan support for the Take It Down Act demonstrates how this approach can lead to meaningful progress. "Republicans and Democrats came together for our children. That is a glimmer of hope for me that we need to get back to that," Winn observes.

She reminisces about past political cooperation: "I grew up here when Mo Udall and Jim Colby were in Goldwater and Deconcini, where the Senators and Democrats and Republicans working together, oh my. And we can do that again, but you cannot lead with your politics. You have to lead with what is best for the people."