Pope Leo calls for AI to serve humanity and not concentrate power
Source: Engadget
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Pope Leo XIV’s Encyclical on AI
On Monday, Pope Leo XIV released his first papal encyclical, continuing a 400‑year‑old tradition in which the Catholic Church shares its perspective on contemporary issues. The document, about 42,300 words in the English version, outlines both the dangers and benefits of artificial intelligence.
“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
The Limits of Artificial Intelligence
The Pope emphasized that AI:
- Does not undergo experiences, possess a body, or feel joy or pain.
- Lacks the capacity to mature through relationships or understand love, work, friendship, or responsibility from within.
- Has no moral conscience; it cannot judge good and evil, grasp ultimate meaning, or bear responsibility for consequences.
- May simulate empathy and understanding, but does not truly understand what it produces because it lacks affective, relational, and spiritual perspectives.
These remarks were presented alongside Anthropic co‑founder Christopher Olah.
Calls for Regulation
Pope Leo urged the establishment of “adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the distorting effects of technological power.” He highlighted that wealth is already concentrated in the hands of a few and that governments must prevent further concentration. Specific regulatory priorities include:
- Ensuring that humans, not AI, make all decisions related to weapons.
- Protecting young people from “violent or degrading” AI‑generated content, grooming, and sexual exploitation.
- Guarding against systematic job loss by encouraging retraining and employment protections for workers displaced by AI.
Educational Alliance for the Digital Age
The Pope called for an “educational alliance for the digital age” to:
- Teach young people to think critically about AI.
- Counteract “apathy for seeking the truth.”
AI as a Tool, Not an Antagonist
While warning against unchecked AI, Pope Leo clarified that the technology should not be seen “as a force antagonistic to humanity.” If carefully managed, it could “open up a horizon extending in all directions.”
Vatican’s Own AI Initiative
In February, the Vatican partnered with language‑service provider Translated to offer an AI‑powered live translation service for Holy Mass attendees. More details can be found in the Engadget article on the Vatican’s AI‑assisted translation service.