Pope Leo calls for AI to serve humanity and not concentrate power

Pope Leo XIV has taken a stronger stand against AI. On Monday, Leo released his first papal encyclical — an almost 400-year-old tradition in which the Catholic Church shares its perspective on an issue. In this case, over about 42,300 words (in the English version), the Pope warned of “the misconception of equating this type of ‘intelligence’ with that of human beings.”

“These systems merely imitate certain functions of human intelligence. In doing so, they often surpass human intelligence in speed and computational capacity, offering tangible benefits across many fields,” Pope Leo stated.

He continued: “So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean. Nor do they have a moral conscience, since they do not judge good and evil, grasp the ultimate meaning of situations, or bear responsibility for consequences. They may imitate language, behavior and analytical skills, or even simulate empathy and understanding, but they do not understand what they produce, for they lack the affective, relational and spiritual perspective through which human beings grow in wisdom.”

Notably, the Pontiff presented the remarks alongside Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah.

The Pope stated that it’s necessary to “establish adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the distorting effects of technological power.” He emphasized that wealth is already concentrated in the hands of very few people and that it’s up to governments to ensure it doesn’t become even more so. In that vein, he added that leaders must ensure that humans, not AI, make all decisions related to weapons in the future.

He also called for “an educational alliance for the digital age” that encourages teaching young people to think critically about AI, to guard against “apathy for seeking the truth.” Regulations should also protect young people against “violent or degrading” AI-generated content, along with grooming and sexual exploitation.

Leo warned that such technology — and any profits that come with it — shouldn’t be used to justify systematic job loss. As such, he encouraged retraining and employment protections for workers whose jobs are at risk due to AI.

Pope Leo’s remarks weren’t made against AI as a whole, stating that it shouldn’t be seen “as a force antagonistic to humanity.” If carefully managed, he said, it could “open up a horizon extending in all directions.” In February, the Vatican teamed up with language service provider Translated to offer AI-powered live translations to Holy Mass attendees.