Pope Leo Issues Stark Warning on AI Development

Pope Leo called on governments to slow the development of artificial intelligence systems in his first major teaching document, warning that the technology risks spreading misinformation, harming workers and pushing the world toward more conflict.

The pope’s first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas, was released Monday at the Vatican. The 43,000-word document focuses heavily on AI and calls for stronger public oversight of a technology now largely driven by private companies.

“What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating,” Leo wrote.

The first American pope called for “robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility.” He warned against leaving ownership of AI data entirely in private hands and urged policymakers to protect workers, children and the public from abuse of the technology.

Leo also said any use of AI in warfare must face strict ethical limits, declaring it “not permissible” to entrust lethal decisions to artificial intelligence systems.

The document also broadened into a sweeping critique of war, arms industry profits and weakening international institutions. Leo wrote that humanity is slipping into “a violent culture of power,” where peace is treated as a temporary pause between conflicts rather than a responsibility.

In one of the clearest papal statements on the issue, Leo said the traditional Catholic theory of “just war” is now outdated, arguing that it has too often been used to justify violence.

“The use of force, violence and weapons reflects a relational poverty that always has disastrous consequences for civilian populations,” he wrote.

The pope also warned that some leaders may use war to distract from domestic problems, an unusually direct political charge in a Vatican document. Subtle as a brick through a stained-glass window, but there we are.

Leo linked his warning on AI to earlier Catholic social teaching, especially Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical on labor during the Industrial Revolution. He said today’s technological revolution has created new forms of exploitation, including dangerous labor tied to rare earth extraction and device production.

He also apologized for the Catholic Church’s failure to forcefully condemn transatlantic slavery until the 19th century.

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

Leo urged Catholics and “all people of good will” not to surrender to fatalism about AI or global conflict, saying no person is without responsibility.