Pope Leo XIV used his first major proclamation published on Monday to urge governments to “disarm” artificial intelligence and be guided by the common good rather than power or profit.
The first American pontiff emphasized that AI can be a valuable tool, but it also poses many threats to humanity.
“Artificial intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from the logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death,” the Pope said at a special Vatican presentation of the document.
The encyclical is viewed as an authoritative form of teaching by everyone from the Pope to the 1.4 billion members of the Catholic Church.
Leo’s first encyclical, titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), follows several years of study by the church on AI-related technologies.
What else did the Pope address in the document?
In the text, the Pope specifically criticized the role of rapidly advancing technology in conflicts and argued that AI-supported autonomous weapons systems have made it “more viable”.
He said that any use of AI in warfare “must be subject to the strictest ethical constraints” and said that delegating lethal decisions to AI systems is “not permitted”.
However, Leo emphasized that “disarmament does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity.”
He said AI should be “human-friendly”, accessible to all and open to discussion and debate, lamenting that power is often concentrated in the hands of a few.
This means that “small but highly influential groups can shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes, and steer economic dynamics to their advantage,” they wrote.
For this reason, it is essential that AI be strictly regulated and have “a strong legal framework, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not shy away from its responsibility,” the Pope said.
The presentation at the Vatican was attended by AI experts, including Chris Olah, co-founder of US-based AI giant Anthropic. The company is currently locked in a legal battle with the Trump administration over its refusal to allow access to its AI models.
In the presentation, Ola acknowledged that AI companies “work within a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes make them struggle to do the right thing.”
He said he welcomed input from outside sources such as the Catholic Church to “move events in a better direction”.
Pope apologizes for slavery
Leo also warned that the rise of AI is being accompanied by “new forms of slavery” – from content moderators forced to view disturbing content to children forced to extract rare earth minerals essential to the digital economy.
“The bodies of these people are scarred, scarred and worn out so that the computational flow can continue uninterrupted,” he said. “This reality deeply challenges the moral conscience of our time.”
The pontiff also issued an unprecedented apology for the Vatican’s role in the transatlantic slave trade, calling it “a wound in the Christian memory.”
He lamented that “a formal, complete and universal condemnation of slavery was not clearly expressed” by the Church until the 19th century.
“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely apologize,” Leo wrote.
Edited by: Dmytro Lyubenko
Don’t let algorithms hide news. If you rely on our team for reliable reporting, please take a moment Select us as your favorite source on Google by clicking here and pressing the “Star” or “Favorite” buttonThat’s why you’ll always see our verified news first.