Pope Leo XIV used his Friday Papal Address to deliver one of the strongest Vatican statements yet on artificial intelligence, declaring that AI systems should be “disarmed” and that humans “have the responsibility to guide, change and, when necessary, reject its applications.”
The Pope specifically encouraged United Nations member states to “take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons” during their meeting in Geneva next month — the first major call from Leo’s papacy for a global weapons ban in the AI era.
Pope Leo: ‘Machines Are Tools, Not Persons’
Echoing themes from his first major papal document in May on “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence,” the Pope warned against granting AI systems rights or legal personhood. “Machines are tools, not persons,” he said. “Decisions affecting human life, freedom, and the use of force must always remain subject to effective, informed, and responsible human oversight.”
He called for being “profoundly human” in the age of AI, and urged international institutions to protect the common good from AI-related risks through “shared standards, independent oversight and clear mechanisms of accountability,” so decisions about AI development and use can be examined, challenged and remedied when they cause harm.
Following Francis — and Leo XIII
The address continues a Vatican line on the issue: in 2024, Pope Francis similarly called for a ban on autonomous weapons, saying, “No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.” Pope Leo has suggested he chose his name partly because he must confront advances in AI, much as Pope Leo XIII guided the Church through the Industrial Revolution.
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