Topline
Pope Leo XIV issued his first encyclical, a papal open letter, on Monday, outlining his vision for safeguarding humanity from the emergence of artificial intelligence and its potentially disruptive effects, calling on governments to regulate the technology and protect workers who may be impacted.
Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first Encyclical Letter “Magnifica Humanitas” focused on the rise of artificial intelligence, in The Vatican.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Facts
The pope issued the 83-page-long encyclical titled “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity) alongside Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah and other catholic leaders.
The manifesto noted that while technology relieving humans of “arduous, repetitive or dangerous tasks” and providing “intelligent support” was desirable, the “pursuit of greater profits” must not lead to choices that “systematically sacrifice jobs.”
The encyclical noted that the use of AI is not a “purely technical matter’ since there is a risk of important decisions like “employment, credit, access to public services or even a person’s reputation” that may get delegated to automated systems that lack “compassion.”
The pope’s letter noted that companies invoking ethics “in the abstract” was inadequate and “independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility,” were necessary to address issues emerging from AI.
The letter warned that in the absence of such regulation “those who control data, infrastructure and computing power” will ultimately end up imposing the rules.
This is a developing story.
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