Leo XIV considers that AI concerns “should be taken seriously”

“ Sand someone asks me if I'm panicking: no, I'm not. I sleep well at night,” he said to the journalists on the plane carrying him back after his four-day visit to France.

“ However, I believe that the concerns expressed by many AI experts should be taken seriously,” he added.

During his apostolic journey to France, the Pope repeatedly warned of the need to protect humanity against AI.

“ In order not to lose our humanity in the midst of the ‘paradise of machines’ that invade and condition our daily lives, it is urgent to form minds for ethical discernment,” he said in a speech on Friday in Paris.

The debate on the risks associated with this technology has intensified in recent months, fueled by various incidents and apocalyptic warnings by professionals in the sector.

On the plane, the pope stressed today that these warnings are not “fake news”, contrary to what some claimed, intended to provoke reactions for financial reasons or to get another kind of advantage.

“It’s a problem that I think we should discuss together,” he said, adding: “Just saying ‘ah, that’s not going to happen’ and closing your eyes to the issue is probably not, in my view, the most responsible way of acting.”.

In the encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), published in May, the head of the Catholic Church launched a strong appeal to “disarm” the AI in order to “stop it from mastering the human being”.

In recent months, the Holy See has also intensified its interventions and initiatives for international governance of the AI based on human dignity, especially in the fields of nuclear technology, culture and artistic creation.