Within the first landmark publication of his papacy, Pope Leo XIV has addressed current advances in synthetic intelligence by specializing in the menace it poses to staff, social justice and “the dignity of individuals”.
Presenting his first papal encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas” (“Magnificent Humanity”), on the Vatican on Might 25, Leo declared: “Synthetic intelligence must be disarmed.”
Within the doc – comprising round 42,300 phrases in its English translation – the pope writes: “To disarm doesn’t imply rejecting expertise, however stopping it from dominating humanity.”
Encyclicals are exceptionally essential papal paperwork that reply to essentially the most urgent social problems with the time. Usually written as letters to all bishops and archbishops, they’ve turn out to be an important car for disseminating the theology and political commitments of the Roman Catholic Church the world over.
Leo selected to signal his first encyclical on Might 15 2026, the precise anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s “Rerum novarum” (“Of recent issues”). This well-known encyclical, which responded to the technological advances of the commercial revolution, grew to become the foundational doc of all fashionable Catholic social instructing.
Certainly, the present pope most likely selected the identify Leo due to Leo XIII’s famend dedication to social justice.
Simply as “Rerum novarum” responded to the commercial revolution by emphasising staff’ rights and the dignity of human labour, so too Leo XIV has responded to the explosion of AI expertise by emphasising the significance of human over machine intelligence.
In 1891, Leo XIII wrote: “Wage-earners … needs to be specifically cared for and guarded by the federal government.”
Leo XIV now makes related appeals to world governments about AI: “It’s mandatory to determine enough regulatory instruments able to upholding justice and curbing the distorting results of technological energy.”
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The present pope follows an extended custom of Catholic engagement with new tech – from issues in regards to the influence of the printing press within the fifteenth century to the rise of the web over 500 years later.
Leo XIV’s presentation was preceded by a brief movie which juxtaposed photographs of earlier popes with main technological improvements. Radio towers gave solution to photographs of broadband centres; early computer systems to a sea of individuals holding up their smartphones in St Peter’s Sq., Vatican Metropolis.
Maybe the essential theme of this video was the connection between expertise and conflict. Photos of second world conflict plane had been intercut with the dropping of the atomic bomb, quickly adopted by photographs of the 9/11 assaults.
Within the encyclical, Leo warns: “The rising ease with which autonomous weapons techniques will be deployed makes conflict extra ‘possible’ and fewer topic to human management.”
Name for disarmament
Leo XIV isn’t the primary pope to handle the potential menace posed by AI expertise. In January 2025, his predecessor Francis signed off the doctrinal be aware “Antiqua et nova” (“Historic and new”) – which referred to as for AI expertise “to incorporate the least of our brothers and sisters, the weak and people most in want”.
Leo’s new name for the disarmament of AI isn’t a requirement to discontinue its improvement, however to manage AI robustly so it solely serves the frequent good.
On this, the pope drew an analogy with the nuclear disarmament motion, suggesting that each nuclear and AI applied sciences ought to solely be developed for the nice of humanity, and by no means used as weapons.
These invited to supply their ideas on Leo’s encyclical included Christopher Olah, the Canadian billionaire and co-founder of AI agency Anthropic. The looks of Olah marks the primary time a speaker solely outdoors clerical or theological circles has been included in such a presentation.
Anthropic is at present locked in a authorized dispute with the US authorities concerning the army utility of its AI techniques. Leo’s encyclical underlines his issues in regards to the escalation of conflict world wide, stating: “You will need to reaffirm that the ‘simply conflict’ principle, which has all too usually been used to justify any type of conflict, is now outdated.”
Olah echoed Leo’s calls for for larger social justice round the usage of AI, stating: “His Holiness’s name for disarmament is profoundly well timed.”
He referred to as for individuals working outdoors laptop science to contribute to AI governance and ethics – individuals “past the incentives” of monetary markets “who can see what we, from the within, can’t”.
Leo answered Olah by saying: “Within the identify of the Church, I settle for your invitation to stroll collectively, to pay attention and to talk – and collectively, to seek out the way in which for humanity on this time of synthetic intelligence.”
