Pope Leo XIV says artificial intelligence need to be ‘disarmed’, and technological progress has to be at the service of human dignity, solidarity and the common good.
He understood using the word ‘disarm’ would have shocked some people, but Pope Leo felt the moment requires words which can awaken consciences and indicate paths forward for humanity.
His worry is AI will be turned into an instrument of domination, exclusion and war! He condemned the use of AI in warfare, and felt reducing human control of weaponry would make it impossible to consider any war using AI ‘just’.
He also cited the slave trade, suggesting AI could be used to normalise the exploitation of people again – “New digital slaveries”.
The Pope said the current technological revolution was an “epochal turning point”, comparable to the upheaval confronted by Pope Leo XIII in 19891, during the Industrial Revolution.
