Pope Leo XIV has called for strong regulations to govern artificial intelligence (A.I.), saying the technology poses risks to humans.
The Pope also called on A.I. developers to work for the common good rather than profit when it comes to the technology that threatens to displace workers.
From the Vatican, Pope Leo issued a manifesto on safeguarding humankind as A.I. changes everything from work to the way wars are fought.
The manifesto is called “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity). It is Leo’s first encyclical since he became Pope last year.
On multiple occasions, the Pontiff has said that he considers A.I. to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today.
In the manifesto, Leo denounced the “culture of power” driving the current A.I. race, especially in developing ever more sophisticated methods of remote warfare.
The Pope’s comments are likely to put him further at odds with the Trump administration, which has aggressively deregulated A.I.’s development in the U.S.
Experts in the technology industry say the document will likely become a benchmark in the debate over A.I. and a future point of reference for policymakers and researchers.
The manifesto comes as concerns rise over A.I. replacing human jobs and surpassing human intelligence.
In the document, the Pope calls out A.I. companies by name, including startups OpenAI and Anthropic, each of which is preparing to go later public this year.
In his text, Pope Leo condemns the concentration of power and data in the hands of a few people in the private sector as a danger.
“It is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract; robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required,” he writes.
Leo appeals several times to A.I. developers and political leaders responsible for regulating the technology to slowdown and reflect on what they are doing and its impacts on humanity.
As recently as last week, Amazon (AMZN) co-founder and board chair Jeff Bezos called for less regulation on A.I., saying it would slowdown the technology’s development.
Tech Insider
