‘AI must be disarmed’: Pope Leo emphasises importance of human over machine

In the first landmark publication of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has addressed recent advances in artificial intelligence by focusing on the threat it poses to workers, social justice and “the dignity of persons”.

Presenting his first papal encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas (“Magnificent Humanity”), at the Vatican on May 25, Leo declared: “Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed.”

In the document – comprising around 42,300 words in its English translation – the pope writes: “To disarm does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity.”

Encyclicals are exceptionally important papal documents that respond to the most pressing social issues of the time. Typically written as letters to all bishops and archbishops, they have become a crucial vehicle for disseminating the theology and political commitments of the Roman Catholic Church across the world.

Leo chose to sign his first encyclical on May 15, the exact anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s Rerum novarum (“Of new things”) from 1891. This famous encyclical, which responded to the technological advances of the industrial revolution, became the foundational document of all modern Catholic social teaching.

Indeed, the current pope probably chose the name Leo because of Leo XIII’s renowned commitment to social justice.

Just as Rerum novarum responded to the industrial revolution...

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