Pope Leo XIV on Monday launched an impassioned call for regulation of Artificial Intelligence, warning that “opaque algorithms,” controlled by a handful of powerful private companies, can bring “new forms of dehumanisation.”
In his eagerly awaited new encyclical called (Magnificent Humanity) – an encyclical is an ancient form of Vatican communication – Pope Leo also warned that it is crucial that AI must not remain in the hands “of a few,” underlining that AI technology was recently used during the U.S.-Israel War on Iran.
The pontiff also said it was crucial that the technological revolution underway must not be driven by “the idolatry of profit.”
While pontiffs do not usually physically attend the presentation of their encyclicals, Pope Leo – in what is considered an unusual move – presented “Magnifica Humanitas” himself at the Vatican alongside Christopher Olah, the founder of major A.I. developer Anthropic, as well as a host of Catholic prelates and theologians.
Anthropic during the past year, has held several events targeting religious communities and invited Christian leaders to its headquarters to discuss spiritual-related matters and the development of its AI systems.
