Pope Leo XIV has stressed that artificial intelligence (AI) must be disarmed to prevent it from dominating humanity. He particularly emphasized that the use of AI in warfare must be subject to the strictest ethical constraints.
According to the National Catholic Reporter on Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV personally announced the encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas" (Great Humanity) containing these messages at the Vatican's Synod Hall. It is his first encyclical since his enthronement in May last year. An encyclical is the highest-authority pastoral letter from the pope to Catholic believers and bishops worldwide, carrying the strongest binding force among papal documents.
In the encyclical, Pope Leo XIV strongly cautioned against the indiscriminate use and development of AI. "AI development is driven more by the private sector than by governments, which makes it difficult to steer toward the common good," he said. He added, "When AI is concentrated in the hands of a few, it creates new forms of subjugation, exclusion, manipulation, and inequality." Accordingly, he argued that control over AI must be strengthened. Pope Leo XIV emphasized the need for an independent legal framework and stressed that ownership of data, the core of AI, should not be left entirely to the private sector.
He particularly preached that AI must be disarmed to break free from the logic of an arms race driven by geopolitical and commercial hegemony. "Disarmament is not about rejecting (AI) technology, but about preventing technology from dominating humanity," Pope Leo XIV said. "The development and use of AI in warfare must be subject to the strictest ethical constraints."
Pope Leo XIV also raised his voice in warning about labor exploitation in the digital economy, calling it a "new slavery." This is because a significant portion of the digital economy depends on the silent labor of millions performing tasks such as data labeling and model training, and is also built on harsh labor in extracting resources such as rare earth elements.
Meanwhile, Pope Leo XIV sent a warning message to political leaders, urging them "not to use war to divert voters' attention from domestic issues." He has been in conflict with the Donald Trump administration in the United States, which is continuing the war in Iran.
