The pope has called for the implementation of global tech regulations for the purpose of “disarming” artificial intelligence.
American national Pope Leo XIV claimed that private companies could not be trusted to control the new technology themselves in a new papal encyclical published May 25.
While acknowledging the technology could do good, the head of the Catholic church warned it has also enhanced “disinformation” online, as well as “hate” and “identity-based fanaticism”.
“It is necessary to establish adequate regulatory tools capable of upholding justice and curbing the distorting effects of technological power,” the document — titled Magnifica humanitas — reads.
“New collaborative efforts are needed among political leaders, labor organizations, the business world and the scientific community in order to develop rapidly adequate shared regulations and protections, including at the international level.”
“In the digital age, a just social order guarantees everyone equal access to opportunities, protects the youngest and weakest members of society, combats hate and misinformation and subjects the use of data and technology to public oversight, so that the guiding principle is not solely profit but the dignity of every person and the common good of all people,” it adds.
The document has many similarities to those released by the European Commission on the topic of digital and AI regulation, going so far as to repeat EU claims of new technologies being used to conduct “hybrid warfare”.
“The digital revolution is changing the nature of conflict. Alongside conventional warfare, there are hybrid forms such as cyberattacks, information manipulation, campaigns of influence and the automation of strategic decisions,” the pope writes.
“AI acts as an accelerating factor in these processes, particularly within a context where many technologies are intrinsically ambivalent. Consequently, what is created for defense can be rapidly repurposed for offense, and the fine line between protection and aggression becomes blurred.”
Pope Leo XIV also appeared to push against the use of speech that contains “explicit or implicit aggression”.
“The first contribution we can make toward a more humane civilization is to be mindful of our words. ‘Let us disarm words and we will help to disarm the world,'” he wrote, quoting a previous speech he gave last year.
“Words have enormous power, something we experience in our daily interactions; for example, spoken words can change our mood for better or for worse.”
The document has been well received by EU officials, with Sandro Gozi, a senior MEP within Emmanuel Macron’s Renew Europe group, taking to social media to celebrate the pope’s claims.
“Leo XIV is right: in the face of AI, let us remain deeply human. Let us work for strong supranational rules so that technology serves human dignity, workers, and our democracies, and not solely the interests of Big Tech,” he said.