Pope Leo Calls For ‘Slower Pace’ Of AI Adoption, Says It Makes War More ‘Feasible’
Pope Leo XIV called for stronger regulation of artificial intelligence and a slower pace of adoption as he warned of different dangers it could pose, including being too concentrated in the hands of few people and making war more “feasible.”
Concretely, the pontiff said that “calling for prudence, rigorous evaluation and even, at times, a slower pace in adopting AI does not mean opposing progress.” Instead, he added, “it is an exercise of responsible care for the human family.”
The document, which was released along with Christopher Olah, one of the co-founders of Anthropic, noted clarified that “technology should not be considered, in itself, as a force antagonistic to humanity.”
In saying that people “must ask God for the wisdom to interpret the great trends of our time, particularly technological advances,” he said AI should be deployed after its impact is reviewed. And a larger number of people need to be involved in doing so: “A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few,” he said.
Elsewhere in the document, the pontiff also drew attention to the “growing ease with which autonomous weapons systems can be deployed,” claiming it makes war more “‘feasible’ and less subject to human control.”
“Use of AI in warfare must be subject to the most rigorous ethical constraints, to guarantee respect for human dignity and the sanctity of life and to avoid a race to develop such arms,” Pope Leo said, adding that “humanity is slipping into a violent culture of power, where peace no longer appears as a responsibility to be taken on, but as a fragile interval between conflicts.”
“AI is already an environment in which we are immersed, as well as a force with which we must engage. For this reason, merely regulating it is insufficient; it must be disarmed, welcoming and accessible,” he said.
The call comes just days after President Donald Trump abruptly postponed a planned executive order on the matter, saying he “didn’t like certain aspects” of the measure and feared it could slow the United States in its race against China.
The signing ceremony had been scheduled for Thursday afternoon with technology executives expected at the White House, but Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he made the decision after reviewing the order’s language. “I think it gets in the way of, you know, we’re leading China, we’re leading everybody, and I don’t want to do anything that’s going to get in the way of that lead,” Trump said.
The order would have created a voluntary framework for AI developers to work with the U.S. government before releasing advanced models to the public, Reuters noted, citing people familiar with the proposal. It would also have directed the government to use advanced AI systems to strengthen cybersecurity defenses for federal, state, and local networks, as well as key private sectors such as banks and hospitals.
