Pope Leo warns of dangers tied to artificial intelligence

Pope Leo is taking on one of the modern world’s most urgent issues: artificial intelligence.

(NBC)- Pope Leo is taking on one of the modern world’s most urgent issues: artificial intelligence.

“Let’s not fear artificial intelligence, but constantly keep the question of the human in play,” the pope said.

The Catholic leader addressed the growing role of AI in society in his first encyclical, titled Magnificent Humanity.

The Chicago-born pontiff also broke with recent tradition by personally attending the presentation of the church teaching document, underscoring the importance of the issue.

“Artificial intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion, and death,” Pope Leo said.

The encyclical does not reject technology outright. Instead, Pope Leo warns against allowing AI to reduce people to data, eliminate jobs and place too much power in the hands of a small group of companies or individuals.

The pope also called for stronger government regulation of artificial intelligence.

While discussing the digital age, Pope Leo compared some modern technological dangers to historic injustices.

He criticized how long both society and the Catholic Church took to condemn slavery.

“For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon,” he wrote.

The presentation also drew attention because of the presence of Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah, who called for more accountability in AI development.

“We need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing,” Olah said.

Pope Leo responded by embracing the idea of cooperation.

“I accept your invitation to walk together,” the pope said.