Pope Leo XIV warns AI could undermine humanity during France visit

Pope Leo XIV cautioned on Friday that artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies risk eroding humanity's core identity, describing the phenomenon as a "paradise of machines" that could reshape daily life in troubling ways, according to Al Jazeera, citing AFP and AP reports.

The warning came during the opening leg of a four-day visit to France, the first official papal trip to the country in 18 years. Speaking alongside President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, the pope said that without a renewed focus on ethical education, society risks surrendering its humanity to machines that increasingly dominate everyday routines.

He later addressed diplomats and staff at the Paris headquarters of UNESCO, the United Nations' education and culture body, where he expanded on his concerns about scientific and technological progress. The pope argued that advances should not be turned into profit-driven enterprises tied to genetic manipulation, surrogacy arrangements, organ trading, or the option to schedule one's own death. That remark came months after France enacted a law permitting assisted dying, according to Al Jazeera.

Pope Leo also restated the Vatican's longstanding rejection of nuclear weapons, calling the doctrine of nuclear deterrence flawed and warning that it was fueling a fresh arms race among nations.

Artificial intelligence has been a recurring theme of his papacy. The pope has previously identified it as among the defining challenges facing humanity today and devoted his first encyclical to the subject, calling for stronger oversight of the technology and urging developers to prioritize the public good over narrow interests.

At UNESCO, he pointed to what he called a growing contradiction: societies increasingly assign the label of "intelligence" to computer systems, even as they struggle to affirm the inherent worth of human beings, whose value is too often measured by productivity and discarded when it is not.

Speaking with journalists earlier, the pope said he was encouraged that his concerns appeared to be resonating with people building AI systems, and that he hoped for continued engagement between technology companies and the Vatican. He said many of those developers seemed genuinely committed to ensuring AI serves people rather than threatens to displace or harm them, according to Al Jazeera.

Beyond the technology debate, the pope also weighed in on the balance between secularism and religion in French public life. Although secularism is written into the country's constitution, he argued that a genuine version of that principle should not push faith out of public institutions or classrooms.

Later Friday, the pope traveled through central Paris in the popemobile before appearing before massive crowds at a stadium outside the city. There, he led a prayer session with young people, addressing the gathered crowd as the "saints of France." The Vatican estimated that roughly 300,000 people turned out to see him over the course of the day, according to Al Jazeera.

The pope's visit to France also touches on other sensitive issues, including debates over assisted dying and the Catholic Church's handling of past abuse cases, themes expected to feature further as his trip continues.