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 inserting AI on the middle of the Church’s ethical agenda, warning that we’re getting 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 subject of synthetic intelligence pose new challenges,” Leo mentioned, 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 instructing 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 world nervousness over AI’s position 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 moral threats, particularly in navy use, the place he warned of “distancing from the immense tragedy of warfare.”
By invoking AI so early in his papacy, Pope Leo XIV is signaling a continuation and intensification of the Vatican’s effort to form world 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: religious management should hold tempo with technological energy.
