The world is currently struggling with wars, political tensions and rapid technological change. Amid the latest AI boom, Pope Leo has warned about the future of AI. In his first major teaching document as pope, he has urged governments to slow down on AI systems and place them under strict human oversight, as per Reuters. Here are five big AI warnings that he gave.
His nearly 43,00-word document which has been titled Magnifica Humanitas (“Maginificent Humanity”) focused on the dangers and responsibilities linked to AI. The pope stated that modern societies were moving too fast without thinking carefully about the human consequences.
AI Needs To Slow Down
Leo wrote, “What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating.”
One of the major concerns of the Pope is about use in modern warfare. He asserts that some autonomous weapons may have advanced meaningful human control. “The past 60 years have been marked by conflicts of astonishing brutality, often affecting civilian populations on a massive scale,” he wrote. He mentions that it was “not permissible” to allow AI systems to make dangerous decisions on their own. He stressed that any military use of AI must face the “the most rigorous ethical constraints.”
The Just War Theory Questioned
Leo elaborated on the “just war” doctrine, which has been used by the Church to judge whether wards can be morally justified.
“The ‘just war’ theory which has all too often been used to justify any kind of war, is now outdated,” the pope wrote. He argued that violence and military force reflect “a relational poverty that always has disastrous consequences for civilian populations.”
“We cannot rule out the possibility that some leaders may consider armed conflict as an effective way of diverting attention from domestic problems,” he stated.
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Pope Leo Calls For Limits On AI Development
Concern for Workers and Children
His warnings also focused on the human cost behind modern technology. Leo spoke about workers in factories and mines who help produce the devices and raw materials needed for AI systems.
“In some regions of the world, children and adolescents work in dangerous conditions, crushing the materials from which rare earth elements are extracted. The bodies of these people are scarred, injured and worn down so that computational flow may continue uninterruptedly.” he wrote.
AI Could Spread Conflict and Misinformation
The pope said AI systems can deepen division, fuel false information and contribute to a more dangerous global atmosphere.
“Humanity is slipping into a violent culture of power, where peace no longer appears as a responsibility to be taken on, but as a fragile interval between conflicts.” His warning linked technology-driven manipulation with growing instability around the world.
Big Tech and Private Companies Cannot Control AI Alone
Leo warned against leaving AI governance entirely in the hands of corporations competing for power and profit.
“Robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility.” He stressed that governments must regulate AI instead of allowing companies to decide the future alone.
The co-founder of Anthropic, Christopher Olah, has also echoed the similar sentiments on AI. He reportedly mentioned that AI cannot be left to tech giants solely. Moreover, he mentioned that greater oversight should come from government, religious leaders and civil society.
Olah said, sitting alongside the Pope, “’If that happens, supporting those displaced will be a moral imperative of historic proportions.” He also mentioned that big tech like his operate under strong commercial, geopolitical, and personal pressures that can often be at odds with the broader interests of society.
