Pope Leo XIV on Friday warned against a “paradise of machines” that could pose a risk to undermine humanity as concerns grow over the unprecedented progress of artificial intelligence.
The Pope’s comments came as enthusiastic crowds started to gather in France’s capital on the day, while he spoke at the presidential palace with President Emmanuel Macron about the need to safeguard humanity against AI. He raised existential concerns about the progress of science and its potential damage to humans, while highlighting human rights during his speech to Macron. The comments come at a time when top AI leaders, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, XAI CEO Elon Musk, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman called for a slowdown in the development of artificial intelligence and voiced concerns on existential threats. The Pope’s visit comes at a time when France is just seven months away from presidential elections that will test Macron, with the anti-immigration far right going all in to come to power.
“If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment,” Pope Leo said. The first US pontiff urged France to remain a “tireless champion of peace”, as Russia’s full-scale war with Ukraine enters its fifth year. Macron said Pope Leo’s visit brings “a source of hope” to many French people. “France stands on the side of peace, effective multilateralism, respect for international law and the United Nations Charter … because every life has equal value, and all peoples must be defended,” he said.
In his speech, the US pontiff firmly reiterated the Catholic Church’s stance against assisted dying initiatives. While he did not explicitly name France, the reference comes two months after the country created a legal right to die for those with incurable illnesses after years of intense debate. Later in the day, he did a tour of Paris on his popemobile, waving hands at cheering crowds who gathered on the streets and waved from their balconies to catch a glimpse of the religious leader. Balconies and sidewalks were decked out in the Vatican’s yellow-and-white colours as the pope made his slow journey to the Notre Dame cathedral in the centre of Paris.
Leo is the first pope to inspect renovations at the Notre Dame Cathedral following a devastating 2019 fire.
In a proudly secular country that has for more than a century separated church and state, Leo stressed that “authentic secularity” should not exclude religion “from the public sphere or from education”. “I firmly reiterate that the protection of the right to life constitutes the indispensable foundation of every other human right,” Pope Leo said. “I am concerned at times by those trends in society that risk turning science and technology into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one’s own death,” Pope Leo said.
