Pope Leo XIV is taking a daring stance on synthetic intelligence, calling it “a problem to human dignity, justice and labour” in his first main tackle since being elected chief of the Catholic Church.
The brand new pontiff is putting AI on the middle of the Church’s ethical agenda, warning that we’re coming into a brand new industrial revolution with the identical threats to staff and human rights seen over a century in the past.
“In our personal day… developments within the area of synthetic intelligence pose new challenges,” Leo said, addressing the School of Cardinals on Saturday within the New Synod Corridor.
He echoed Pope Leo XIII, who in 1891 issued Rerum Novarum, a foundational textual content of Catholic social educating written in response to the human toll of the Industrial Revolution.
Pope Leo XIV meets the School of Cardinals within the New Synod Corridor on the Vatican (AP)
Backdrop
Pope Leo XIV’s remarks observe a surge in international nervousness over AI’s function within the financial system, warfare, and media integrity. The speech comes simply days after:
Pope Francis, who handed away on Easter Monday at age 88, had grown more and more vocal about AI’s ethical threats, particularly in army use, the place he warned of “distancing from the immense tragedy of struggle.”
By invoking AI so early in his papacy, Pope Leo XIV is signaling a continuation and intensification of the Vatican’s effort to form international discourse on ethics in tech.
Backside line
The Catholic Church simply positioned synthetic intelligence on its ethical radar. Pope Leo XIV is sending a message: non secular management should hold tempo with technological energy.
