Pope Leo XIV has issued a sharp warning against the unchecked rise of artificial intelligence, comparing the current AI race to the biblical ‘Tower of Babel’ and cautioning that technology without ethical limits could deepen inequality, distort truth, and weaken human dignity.
The Pope, speaking in his first encyclical named ‘Magnifica Humanitas,’ published in the Vatican on May 25th, declared that there was one thing that humanity needed to choose: create technology that would serve society as a whole or let it become an instrument of domination.
The 235-page encyclical makes the Vatican emerge as a powerful moral voice in the international AI discussion, as governments and tech companies compete to invent new technologies.
Rather, the encyclical is not against the use of artificial intelligence. On the contrary, it emphasizes that AI must be under human control and subject to democratic rule.
Commenting on his worries that human beings are viewed as mere data points when working with algorithms purely interested in making money, Pope Leo pointed out that the artificial-intelligence monopoly held by some firms should be addressed. At the same time, societal responsibility to their citizens should be increased.
The Pope also highlighted problems such as the spread of misinformation, citizen espionage, inequality, and mass unemployment. In the encyclical, the Pope urges states to protect their citizens’ interests from the adverse effects of technological developments.
Another highly compelling part of the encyclical is its treatment of military applications of AI. Pope Leo argued that self-driving weapons and algorithmic warfare could reduce the threshold for violence, removing humans from the consequences of war.
Moreover, Pope Leo emphasized that certain AI weapons have already moved beyond human control, urging the development of international regulations.
Finally, Pope Leo criticized the trend towards an alliance between political, military, and technological forces.
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Some experts see the connections between Magnifica Humanitas and the encyclical Rerum Novarum, written by Pope Leo XIII in 1891. The issue of labor abuse during the Industrial Revolution was discussed in the latter. It seems that the topic of AI poses the same question today.