Pope Leo XIV Warns Against Letting AI Make Human Decisions

Pope Leo XIV Warns Against Letting AI Make Human Decisions

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence has prompted a fresh warning from Pope Leo XIV, who says some decisions should never be handed over to algorithms.

The Pope made the remarks at his weekly audience in St Peter’s Square, where he addressed thousands of faithful and reflected on the impact of technology on modern human interaction.

While acknowledging that AI, social media and other forms of technological development can reduce barriers and connect people across great distances, he said they also carry a risk of making human relationships increasingly virtual.

His particular concern was the possibility that society could become accustomed to allowing algorithms to determine matters that should instead be guided by human conscience.

“Ensuring that social relationships have real substance and personal depth” is one way the Christian community seeks to respond to this challenge, he said.

The comments come amid broader concerns about the direction of AI development. Recent security incidents, along with the growing ability of some AI systems to improve their own performance without human intervention, have intensified debate about the technology.

Another major question is whether companies and organisations within the AI sector are capable of regulating themselves effectively as the technology becomes more powerful.

The Pope has previously made AI a major focus of his public interventions. His first major document, the May encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas”, urged efforts to prevent AI from becoming a force that dominates humanity.

The Holy See has also become more active in calls for international rules governing AI, grounding its position in the protection of human dignity. Its initiatives have extended to discussions involving nuclear technology, culture and artistic creation.

The latest warning places the Vatican’s concerns within a wider debate over how humanity should balance the benefits of increasingly powerful AI with the need to keep important decisions under human control.

 

Pope Leo XIV Warns Against Letting AI Make Human Decisions