THE TAKEAWAY: There are plenty of words you could use to describe what should happen with AI right now. Pope Leo XIV chose one typically used in the context of nuclear stockpiles. In his first major teaching document, released on Monday, he says humanity needs to "disarm" AI before things get out of hand.
The remarks come from an 82-page text called Magnifica Humanitas (translated as Magnificent Humanity), the first encyclical of his papacy, released on May 25. An encyclical is a pope's official teaching letter to the Catholic Church, outlining his priorities for the Church's 1.4 billion members. For Leo, the priority appears to be AI.
That said, he admits he chose the word "disarm" because he wanted something punchy enough to grab attention.
"The word is strong, I know, but deliberately chosen," he said.
The actual message is not to abandon the technology entirely. Rather, he wants to remove it from what he described as an "armed" competitive mindset. To that end, a significant portion of the encyclical focuses on AI in warfare, where he argues that some autonomous weapons systems are already slipping beyond meaningful human control. Instead of this direction, he says AI should be human-friendly, accessible, and open to public debate.
