Newly cancer-free Pope Leo XIV is urging the nations of the world to “disarm” AI, including a specific call for United Nations members to “take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons” during a meeting in Geneva scheduled for November. He also called for nations to form global institutions to manage AI development and shot down claims of AI personhood.
In a papal address on Friday, Leo said: “First, the future of artificial intelligence is not pre-determined. As a technology developed by human beings, its future depends on the choices we make. We therefore have the responsibility to guide, change and, when necessary, reject its applications.”
“The decisive question, then, is not simply ‘What can AI do?’ but rather, ‘What purpose should it serve?'” the pope asked.
“Second, machines are tools, not persons,” the pope continued, before quoting from his May 2026 encyclical—his first major ideological declaration for the Catholic Church and its official stance on AI.
“So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean,” he quoted.
Leo said that those who treat AI like it has conscious experiences risk “obscuring human responsibility and leaving those who suffer harm to confront a faceless entity.” That feels pretty much like a direct response to that slice of Silicon Valley that keeps insisting current-day LLMs have evolved beyond programs to a new form of consciousness and have in some cases exhibited cult-like behavior. It’s also clear that Leo sees a direct connection between the way AI companies operate and users that end up with delusional beliefs about who they’re talking to.
Leo went on to say that certain decisions “must never be delegated,” such as those that affect “human life, freedom and the use of force.” Leo specifically cited AI-built target lists (likely referring to systems that select targets for air or drone strikes), border control databases, and autonomous weapons.
The pope also recommended that “intelligent technologies must be directed toward the common good,” which is nice, but a bit of a stretch goal. More concretely, he said the biggest current need is for international collaboration:
“What we currently need are institutions capable of putting these principles into practice, particularly effective international institutions that can safeguard the global common good,” the pope concluded. “This calls for shared standards, independent oversight and clear mechanisms of accountability, so that decisions concerning the development and use of AI can be examined, challenged when necessary, and accompanied by appropriate remedies for any harm caused.”
Leo has suggested that he took his papal name from Pope Leo XIII, who presided over another period of massive technological change. Pope Francis, his predecessor, had also called for a ban on autonomous weapons.
