Pope Leo XIV has expressed concerns about the potential risks of AI to human dignity, justice, and labor.

He sees AI as a core issue of his papacy and links it to broader social justice.

Speaking to cardinals, he emphasized the Church’s plan to use its 2,000-year-old social teachings to confront challenges from this AI-driven industrial revolution.

The pope’s stance continues the legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who defended labor rights during the Gilded Age.

While tech giants like Google and Microsoft have engaged with the Vatican, the Holy See’s push for a binding global AI treaty has met resistance from some in the industry.

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🔗 Source: TechCrunch

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ The Catholic Church’s consistent engagement with technological revolutions spans centuries

Pope Leo XIV’s focus on AI follows a 134-year-old tradition of papal engagement with industrial transformations.

His predecessor Pope Leo XIII issued Rerum Novarum in 1891 specifically to address the challenges factory workers faced during the first Industrial Revolution, establishing workers’ rights to fair wages, safe conditions, and the right to form unions 1.

By invoking his namesake’s legacy, Pope Leo XIV signals that the Church sees AI as posing fundamental questions about human dignity and labor that arose during previous technological revolutions 3.

2️⃣ The Vatican’s AI stance emerges amid accelerating global regulatory momentum

The Vatican’s push for a binding international treaty on AI aligns with significant recent developments in global AI governance, including the world’s first legally binding AI treaty signed in 2024 4.

This global treaty, signed by multiple countries including the United States, focuses on ensuring AI systems respect human rights and democratic values while promoting responsible innovation 4.

Similarly, the European Union has enacted the AI Act, establishing the first comprehensive risk-based regulatory framework for artificial intelligence, which categorizes and regulates AI systems based on their potential risks 5.

The Vatican’s engagement with tech leaders from Google, Microsoft, and Cisco reflects a strategic effort to influence how AI is developed and regulated, while tech companies typically resist binding regulations that might “stifle innovation” 3.

This tension between the Vatican’s moral authority and tech industry interests highlights the broader global struggle to establish ethical guardrails for AI development without impeding technological progress.

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