Pope Leo outlines 5 ways to guide the future of AI

Pope Leo outlined five considerations for guiding the development of artificial intelligence during an Oct. 30 address at the Vatican, stressing that technology must serve humanity rather than undermine human dignity, responsibility, or the common good.

In his address, the Pope called for greater responsibility in shaping AI's future, warning that although many of the technology's ethical challenges are already understood, meaningful action remains insufficient.

“We recognize the direction we should take, yet not enough is being done to move forward,” he said.

Pope Leo delivered his remarks during an audience with participants in a meeting organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute, titled “The Future of AI: A Dialogue Between the Vatican and the Scientific World on the Developments and Applications of Intelligent Technologies.”

Drawing on his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, the Pontiff presented five guidelines intended to ensure that technological innovation remains in service of human dignity and the common good.

1. The future of AI depends on human choices

Pope Leo said the direction of AI development is determined by human decisions, rather than being inevitable. Because humans create and deploy these systems, they also bear responsibility for determining their purposes and limits.

“The decisive question, then, is not simply ‘What can AI do?’ but rather, ‘What purpose should it serve?’” Pope Leo said.

He cautioned against treating AI development as a competition in which technological superiority becomes more important than human well-being. 

“A reliable system that serves the human person is of greater value than one that is exceptionally powerful but whose consequences cannot be adequately foreseen or controlled,” he said.

2. Machines are tools, not persons

Pope Leo firmly rejected the idea that artificial intelligence systems should be regarded as persons, maintaining that machines are tools fundamentally different from human beings.

“So-called artificial intelligences do not undergo experiences, do not possess a body, do not feel joy or pain, do not mature through relationships and do not know from within what love, work, friendship or responsibility mean,” he said, quoting Magnifica Humanitas.

He also addressed proposals to grant AI systems rights or legal personhood, warning that doing so risks “obscuring human responsibility and leaving those who suffer harm to confront a faceless entity.”

3. Certain decisions must never be delegated to AI

Pope Leo warned that using automated systems in decisions about military targets or border controls could diminish consideration of the individuals affected.

“Decisions affecting human life, freedom and the use of force must always remain subject to effective, informed and responsible human oversight,” he said.

The Pope also addressed international efforts to regulate autonomous weapons, which can select and attack targets without direct human authorization for each strike.

“For this reason, artificial intelligence must be ‘disarmed,’” he continued, encouraging “the States meeting in Geneva in November to take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons.”

4. AI must serve the common good, not a privileged few

Pope Leo called for the benefits of artificial intelligence to be made widely accessible, particularly to people in greatest need.

“Justice requires access to the benefits of innovation, including care, knowledge, tools and opportunities,” he said, quoting his encyclical.

Pope Leo added that AI development should encourage international cooperation and participation, with the benefits of technological progress shared fairly.

5. Ethical principles need institutions that can put them into practice 

Pope Leo said the challenge was no longer simply identifying the ethical issues surrounding AI but ensuring that existing principles influence how the technology is developed and used. He described this as “perhaps the most urgent issue” of them all. 

“What we currently need are institutions capable of putting these principles into practice, particularly effective international institutions that can safeguard the global common good,” he said.

The Pontiff called for “shared standards, independent oversight and clear mechanisms of accountability.” He said decisions about AI development and use should be subject to scrutiny and challenges when necessary, with remedies available for people harmed by the technology.

Pope Leo closed by thanking participants for their contributions and encouraging them to continue their efforts, working together “in a spirit of dialogue and shared responsibility for the common good.”