Pope Leo XIV has warned that artificial intelligence, which he referred to as a “paradise of machines”, and other emerging technologies could undermine humanity by posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human. Thousands gathered to welcome the pope in France on Friday, shortly after he raised existential questions about technological advancement and human rights during his opening speech to President Emmanuel Macron and authorities at the Elysee Palace and then to diplomats and United Nations employees at the headquarters of UNESCO, the UN culture and education organisation. “If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment,” Pope Leo said beside Macron. Scientific progress should not turn “into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one’s own death”, the pope said, a few months after France passed a landmark bill legalising assisted dying. He reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to nuclear weapons, stating that the nuclear deterrence doctrine was “mistaken” as it was heightening a new arms race.
The pope identified AI as one of the greatest challenges currently facing humanity since the very beginning of his pontificate, dedicating his first encyclical to the topic to call for significant regulation and for developers to work for the common good. “The paradox has become increasingly evident: while ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognise the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded,” he said. The pope had earlier told reporters that he was pleased that his message was being heard by AI developers and hoped the dialogue would continue between tech companies and the Vatican. “And I think from their perspective, many of them, they’re very much open to looking for ways of making sure that AI does not displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather is a tool for human beings,” he said. The pope’s four-day trip marks the first official papal visit to France in 18 years. While secularism is enshrined in the country’s constitution, the pontiff stressed that “authentic secularity” should not exclude religion “from the public sphere or from education”.
Thousands of worshippers cheered Leo on Friday as he stepped up to pray and called those gathered at a stadium near Paris the “saints of France”. Earlier in the afternoon, the pope crossed central Paris in his popemobile. The Vatican estimated that about 300,000 people had come out to see the pontiff on Friday.
