Pope Leo XIV intensified his campaign against artificial intelligence threats to humanity this week, warning Italian bishops that AI risks reducing people to "functions, automatisms, simulations" as the Vatican continues pressing for binding international regulations on the technology.
Speaking to bishops on Monday, the first American pope declared that "the person is not a system of algorithms" and cautioned that emerging technologies are "profoundly transforming our perception and experience of life". The remarks represent Leo XIV's most direct challenge yet to the tech industry, which has spent years courting Vatican influence on AI policy.
The pope's warnings build on his address to cardinals last month, where he said he would rely on "2,000 years of church social teaching" to respond to AI innovations that pose challenges to "human dignity, justice, and labor," according to The Wall Street Journal1. Leo XIV has explicitly compared the AI revolution to the Industrial Revolution, drawing parallels to his namesake Leo XIII, who championed workers' rights during the Gilded Age12.
"AI presents new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," Leo XIV stated in his first major address since assuming the papacy, echoing concerns raised by his predecessor Pope Francis3.
The Vatican has been advocating for a binding international AI treaty, something most tech CEOs oppose as potentially stifling innovation1. Leaders from Google, Microsoft, and Cisco have traveled to Rome attempting to shape the Vatican's AI dialogue and influence policymakers1.
The push comes as the world's first legally binding AI treaty has already emerged from the Council of Europe. Adopted in May 2024, the Framework Convention on Artificial Intelligence covers the entire lifecycle of AI systems and was negotiated by 46 European countries plus 11 non-members, including the United States and the Holy See23.
Leo XIV is expanding on substantial groundwork laid by Pope Francis, who called for a global AI treaty and expressed particular concern about autonomous weapons systems1. The Vatican released "Antiqua et Nova," a comprehensive document on AI ethics, in January 2025, warning against "creating a substitute for God"23.
"In two years, we have seven major discourses by Pope Francis on this subject," noted Father Larrey. "And so I think that Pope Leo is going to take that as a base, and build on it"4.
The Vatican's Academy for Life will host an AI and medicine conference in November, continuing the church's engagement with technology ethics5.
