Pope Leo XIV Addresses AI as a Major Challenge, Echoing Historical Church Response to Industrial Revolution

New pope chose his name based on AI's threats to "human dignity

Last Thursday, white smoke emerged from a chimney at the Sistine Chapel, signaling that cardinals had elected a new pope. That's a rare event in itself, but one of the many unprecedented aspects of the election of Chicago-born Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV is one of the main reasons he chose his papal name: artificial intelligence. On Saturday, the new pope gave his first address to the College of Cardinals, explaining his name choice as a continuation of Pope Francis' concerns about technological transformation. "Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV," he said during the address. "There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution." In his address, Leo XIV explicitly described "artificial intelligence" developments as "another industrial revolution," positioning himself to address this technological shift as his namesake had done over a century ago. As the head of an ancient religious organization that spans millennia, the pope's talk about AI creates a somewhat head-spinning juxtaposition, but Leo XIV isn't the first pope to focus on defending human dignity in the age of AI. Pope Francis, who died in April, first established AI as a Vatican priority, as we reported in August 2023 when he warned during his 2023 World Day of Peace message that AI should not allow "violence and discrimination to take root." In January of this year, Francis further elaborated on his warnings about AI with reference to a "shadow of evil" that potentially looms over the field in a document called "Antiqua et Nova" (meaning "the old and the new"). "Like any product of human creativity, AI can be directed toward positive or negative ends," Francis said in January. "When used in ways that respect human dignity and promote the well-being of individuals and communities, it can contribute positively to the human vocation. Yet, as in all areas where humans are called to make decisions, the shadow of evil also looms here. Where human freedom allows for the possibility of choosing what is wrong, the moral evaluation of this technology will need to take into account how it is directed and used." History repeats with new technology While Pope Francis led the call for respecting human dignity in the face of AI, it's worth looking a little deeper into the historical inspiration for Leo XIV's name choice. In the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, the earlier Leo XIII directly confronted the labor upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, which generated unprecedented wealth and productive capacity but came with severe human costs. At the time, factory conditions had created what the pope called "the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class." Workers faced 16-hour days, child labor, dangerous machinery, and wages that barely sustained life. The 1891 encyclical rejected both unchecked capitalism and socialism, instead proposing Catholic social doctrine that defended workers' rights to form unions, earn living wages, and rest on Sundays. Leo XIII argued that labor possessed inherent dignity and that employers held moral obligations to their workers. The document shaped modern Catholic social teaching and influenced labor movements worldwide, establishing the church as an advocate for workers caught between industrial capital and revolutionary socialism. Just as mechanization disrupted traditional labor in the 1890s, artificial intelligence now potentially threatens employment patterns and human dignity in ways that Pope Leo XIV believes demands similar moral leadership from the church. "In our own day," Leo XIV concluded in his formal address on Saturday, "the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor."

Pope Leo XIV's focus will include AI.

Formally meeting with cardinals for the first time today, he said that his papal name reflects Pope Leo XIII's focus on the social impact of the industrial revolution, reports CNN. "In our own day, the church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor," the new American pontiff said Saturday, speaking in fluent Italian.

Pope Leo XIV names AI one of the reasons for his papal name

The swagged-out pope is an AI fake -- and an early glimpse of a new reality The Catholic Church has taken a keen interest in the development of AI in recent years. In a January document published by the Vatican and translated to English, the church reflected on AI, its limitations, its relationship with the truth, and the ethics of developing and using the technology. The document also references a warning issued a year prior by Pope Francis about AI's potential to create "partially or completely false narratives, believed and broadcast as if they were true."

Pope Leo XIV Identifies AI as a Major Challenge for Humanity

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue with some of the core priorities of Pope Francis. But in a sign he was making the papacy very much his own, Leo made his first outing since his election, traveling to a sanctuary south of Rome that is dedicated to the Madonna and is of particular significance to his Augustinian order and his namesake, Pope Leo XIII.

Pope Leo XIV lays out his vision of papacy, identifies AI as a main challenge for humanity

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity. In his first formal audience, Leo made clear he will follow in the modernizing reforms of Pope Francis to make the Catholic Church inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the "least and rejected." Citing Francis repeatedly, he told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor. Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching. In his remarks, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day in the encyclical. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," he said.

Why Pope Leo chose his name: AI, workers' rights, new Industrial Revolution

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost of the U.S., appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that he selected his name in part to commemorate Pope Leo XIII for his commitment to social issues and workers' rights during the industrial revolution. Speaking just days after he was elected pontiff, he said that the world now faces new hurdles to workers' rights -- and humanity more broadly -- due to the rise of artificial intelligence. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor," Pope Leo said. Pope Leo's remarks, his first meeting with all the cardinals since his election on May 8, provide one of the earliest indications of his vision for leadership and priorities as head of the Catholic Church.

The New Pope Wants to Take on AI

Pope Leo XIV says artificial intelligence is a challenge to “human dignity.†The Catholic Church is not exactly known for being on the cutting edge of policyâ€"it was still performing mass in Latin until the 1960s, after all. But the newly selected Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born Robert Prevost, has his eyes toward the future when it comes to artificial intelligence. In his first formal meeting with cardinals of the church, he pointed to the development of AI as one of the biggest challenges facing humanity, according to CNN. "In our own day, the church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor,†he told the senior clergy members. He also said he chose his name, Leo, as a signal of his intention to follow in the footsteps of Pope Leo XIII, who he said worked to address “the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.†Pope Leo XIII, who served as the leader of the church from 1878 to 1903, is perhaps best known for an encyclical he issued in 1891 entitled "Rerum Novarum" or "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor." A landmark text on worker rights, the letter was a call to relieve "the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class" and issued support for, among other things, the unionization of labor. Leo XIV is also picking up the baton from his predecessor, Pope Francis, who also identified AI as a potential risk to humanity if not developed and deployed ethically and in a human-centered way. Francis issued “Antiqua et Nova,†the “Note on the relationship between artificial intelligence and human intelligence,†in which he insisted that any developments in the field of AI must "serve human dignity and not harm it." Pope Francis also spoke publicly on AI at the 2024 G7 Summit, where he described AI as the start of a "cognitive-industrial revolution" and warned that it posed the risk of causing "greater injustice between advanced and developing nations or between dominant and oppressed social classes." He also delivered remarks at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year before his passing, in which he warned that "human dignity and fraternity are frequently subordinated in the pursuit of efficiency" during the advancement of new technologies, and called on those involved with the development of AI to ensure it "promotes human dignity, the vocation of the human person, and the common good."

New Pope Leo XIV cites AI's challenge to human dignity in his name choice

The new pope believes AI will have major societal consequences. Credit: TIZIANA FABI / AFP / Getty Images The name choice of a new pope carries symbolism for the values he wishes to emulate, in recognition of the most pressing issues he sees as leader of the Catholic Church. For Pope Leo XIV, artificial intelligence is at the heart of his name choice. Born Robert Francis Prevost, the new pope chose his papal name in reference to Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) who presided over the Catholic Church during the Industrial Revolution, which ushered in massive social upheaval. Pope Leo XIV sees the AI boom as a similar moment of rapid societal change. In his address to the College of Cardinals on Saturday, Leo XIV explained his name choice, explicitly mentioning the parallels of these two cataclysmic eras: Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour. Pope Leo XIII was known for focusing on social inequality and labor rights during the industrialization period as workers moved away from individual craftsmanship and farm work and into mass production factories under harsh, low-wage conditions. Yet he also emphasized individual human rights and rejected socialism. In his encyclical, or formal letter to the Catholic Church, Leo XIII called for a balance between "the duties and rights of capital and labor," which is also the subtitle of his Rerum Novarum address. For Leo XIV to follow in the footsteps of the previous social reformer is a powerful message to the AI industry and its impact on the global workforce. Modern society has already seen the effects of AI through job replacement and the exploitation of data labelers. According to the World Economic Forum's 2025 jobs report, 41 percent of employers intend to downsize their workforce in favor of automating tasks with AI. And the International Labor Organization published a 2024 report highlighting the "invisible labor" of AI development and the low-wages and the limited protections of these workers. The Catholic Church has already weighed in on other consequences of AI. Pope Francis, Leo's predecessor, published a message in January 2024, warning about AI as a "distortion of reality by partially or completely false narratives, believed and broadcast as if they were true." More recently, Pope Francis' final address before he died reflected on technology replacing human interaction.

Pope Leo says AI is the main challenge for humanity

Pope Leo XIV has said that artificial intelligence (AI) is the main challenge for humanity in his first address to cardinals. The new pontiff vowed to continue some of Pope Francis's missions, including making the Catholic Church more inclusive. The first American Pope told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms. He singled out AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying: "In our own day, the Church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour." Pope Francis had become increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it. He warned that such powerful technology risked turning human relations into mere algorithms. Ahead of the conclave, the secret process of electing a new pontiff, an artificially generated image of Donald Trump dressed as the pope sparked criticism across the globe.

The New Pope Is Deeply Skeptical of AI

New developments in AI "pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor." The newly-annointed Pope Leo XIV -- formerly cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago, Illinois -- revealed this weekend that his name choice was inspired in part by AI, which he sees as a possible threat to human rights and justice. As Business Insider reports, the Chicago Pope took time during his first Sunday address to share how AI shaped the symbolic task of choosing his papal name. The last Pope Leo, Leo XIII, headed the church amid the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century, an era defined by rapid technological advancement, rampant labor exploitation, severe wealth inequality, and public health crises. During his papacy, Pope Leo XIII was deeply concerned with the collateral social damage wrought by unchecked technological innovation. Now, seeing similarities between the technological shifts of centuries past, Leo XIV is ready to pick up where his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis, left off, holding the potential social costs of AI advancement front and center. "Sensing myself called to continue in this same path, I chose to take the name Leo XIV," the new Pope said during the landmark speech, according to BI. "There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical 'Rerum Novarum' addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution." "In our own day," he continued, "the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor." The new Pope on the block has a point. Though public-facing products, like AI-powered chatbots and image generators, appear in sleek interfaces on computer and phone screens, they come with some considerable costs behind the scenes. Case in point, Elon Musk's massive xAI datacenter in Memphis, which has been polluting a predominantly Black neighborhood with smoggy fumes, worsening air quality in an area that already tops lists for emergency room visits for asthma. In short, much like his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV appears to be well aware of the many "challenges" we face in the age of AI.

Pope Leo's Name Carries a Warning About the Rise of AI

New papal names often drip with meaning. Pope Francis, in 2013, named himself after Saint Francis of Assisi, signifying his dedication to poverty, humility, and peace. Pope Paul VI, in 1963, modeled himself after Paul the Apostle, becoming the first pope to make apostolic journeys to other continents. When Robert Francis Prevost announced on Saturday he would take the name Leo XIV, he gave an unexpected reason for his choice: the rise of AI. The most recent Pope Leo, Prevost explained, served during the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 19th century, and railed against the new machine-driven economic systems turning workers into mere commodities. Now, with AI ushering in a "new industrial revolution," the "defense of human dignity, justice and labor" is required, he said.

First American Pope Leo Says AI Poses 'New Challenges' for Humanity - Decrypt

Prevost's surprise election marks the first time an American has been named pope, defying global prediction markets and drawing congratulations from President Trump. Chicago-born mathematician Robert Prevost, the Catholic Church's newly elected pope, has singled out artificial intelligence as one of the most pressing challenges facing humanity. In his inaugural address to the College of Cardinals on Saturday, the new Pope said the Church would act as a guide in response to "developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice, and labour." Prevost's statements on AI reaffirm the 1.4 billion-member religion's commitment to engaging with the technology as it spurs concerns over its impact on the environment and human labor. The new pontiff said his role continues his predecessor's, which "addressed the social question in the context of the first great Industrial Revolution." His papal name, Pope Leo XIV, is in reference to Pope Leo XIII (Gioacchino Pecci), who led Roman Catholics until 1903. Prevost's fellow American cardinals call him "Bob." Pecci engaged social challenges during the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century through his landmark encyclical, Rerum Novarum, which addressed the duties of capital and labor, advocating the protection of workers, the right to private property, and the role of the state in ensuring social justice. The pope's remarks align with broader global concerns over AI's societal impact -- a topic that has surfaced in multiple controversies in recent years. Those AI ethics controversies range from deceptive academic experiments using AI personas on Reddit to the use of generative AI tools for cheating in education and censorship practices by image-generation platforms such as Midjourney, which blocked political figures like China's Xi Jinping. Prevost was relatively unknown across prediction markets, which, in recent weeks, had centered on who would become the next pope. His election defied expectations. On the eve of Prevost's appointment, President Donald Trump congratulated the new pontiff, saying it was "an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope." Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the previous pope known as Francis, described artificial intelligence in 2023 as "the highest-stakes gamble of our future" and urged that it be developed to "serve humanity's best potential." In the same year, the Vatican launched the "Rome Call for AI Ethics," an industry collaboration signed by major tech firms such as Microsoft, IBM, and Cisco. Amid growing geopolitical conflicts, Bergoglio denounced the use of AI in war: "No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being." In January, the Vatican published Antiqua Nova, a document on its official position on AI, under Bergoglio's guidance. "AI's advanced features give it sophisticated abilities to perform tasks, but not the ability to think," the document reads. "As AI becomes more powerful, there is an associated risk that human labor may lose its value in the economic realm."

Pope Leo XIV outlines his vision for the papacy, vows to continue late Pope Francis' work

Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue in some of the core priorities of Pope Francis. In his first formal audience, Leo repeatedly cited Francis and the Argentine pope's own 2013 mission statement, making clear a commitment to making the Catholic Church more inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the "least and rejected." Leo, the first American pope, told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor. In another hint to his priorities, the Vatican revealed that Leo, a member of the Augustinian religious order, would retain the motto and coat of arms that he had as bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. The motto, "In Illo uno unum," was pronounced by St. Augustine in a sermon to explain that "although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one." Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching. In his remarks Saturday, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day posed by the industrial revolution in the encyclical. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," he said. Toward the end of his pontificate, Francis became increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it. He warned that such powerful technology risks turning human relations into mere algorithms. Francis brought his message to the Group of Seven industrialized nations when he addressed their summit last year, insisting AI must remain human-centric so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools always remain made by humans and not machines. The late Argentine pope also used his 2024 annual peace message to call for an international treaty to ensure AI is developed and used ethically, arguing that a technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness is too perilous to develop unchecked. Francis in many ways saw the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost as something of an heir apparent: He moved him to take over a small Peruvian diocese in 2014, where Prevost later became bishop and head of the Peruvian bishops conference, and then called him to Rome to take over one of the most important Vatican offices vetting bishop nominations in 2023. In the speech, delivered in Italian in the Vatican's synod hall - not the Apostolic Palace - Leo made repeated references to Francis and the mourning over his death. He held up Francis' mission statement at the 2013 start of his pontificate, "The Joy of the Gospel," as something of his own marching orders, suggesting he intends very much to continue in Francis' priorities. He cited Francis' insistence on the missionary nature of the church and the need to make its leadership more collegial. He cited the need to pay attention to what the faithful say "especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, especially popular piety." Again, referring to Francis' 2013 mission statement, Leo cited the need for the church to express "loving care for the least and rejected" and engage in courageous dialogue with the contemporary world. Greeted by a standing ovation as he entered, Leo read from his prepared text, only looking up occasionally. Even when he first appeared to the world on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday night, Leo read from a prepared, handwritten text that he must have drafted sometime before his historic election or the hour or so after. He seemed most comfortable, speaking off-the-cuff in the few words he pronounced in Spanish. Louis Prevost told CBS News that his younger brother always had a calling towards religion. "Rob used to like to play priest," Louis Prevost said. "We'd say 'Let's go play cops and robbers,' and he'd be like, 'I want to play priest first." Prevost was elected the 267th pontiff on Thursday on the fourth ballot of the conclave, an exceptionally fast outcome given this was the largest and most geographically diverse conclave in history and not all cardinals knew one another before arriving in Rome. Cardinals have said Prevost did not make any major speech during the pre-conclave discussions, and he carried into the conclave the traditional taboo precluding a pope from the United States given America's superpower status. But Prevost was already known to many of them given his decades as a missionary and then bishop in Peru, and had been the head of the Vatican's bishops office since 2023. They said he made an impression in smaller groups where English was the key language of communication in a conclave that brought together 133 cardinals from 70 countries. Madagascar Cardinal Désiré Tsarahazana told reporters on Saturday that on the final ballot, Prevost had received "more" than 100 votes. That suggests an extraordinary margin, well beyond the two-thirds, or 89 votes, necessary to be elected.

Pope Leo XIV says advancement of AI played a factor in his papal name selection

Pope Leo XIV meets the College of Cardinals in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican on Saturday.Vatican Media via AP Pope Leo XIV revealed that his papal name was partially inspired by the looming challenges of a world increasingly influenced by artificial intelligence. In his first formal address as the Vatican's newly elected pope on Saturday, Leo told the College of Cardinals that he chose to name himself after Pope Leo XIII, who led the Catholic Church from his election in 1878 to his death in 1903. During his papacy, Leo XIII maintained a dedication to social issues and workers rights after much of the world had just been reshaped by the Industrial Revolution. Though he said there are various reasons for the name he chose, Leo XIV primarily pointed to Leo XIII's historic encyclical "Rerum Novarum," also known as "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor," which laid a foundation for modern Catholic social teachings. Issued in 1891, the open letter emphasized that "some opportune remedy must be found quickly for the misery and wretchedness pressing so unjustly on the majority of the working class." "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labour," Leo XIV, previously known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, said in his address on Saturday, according to a transcript. Much like the Industrial Revolution, the acceleration of generative AI in recent years has already transformed the world and raised a flurry of concerns over how these new technologies will impact human labor. AI, still unregulated in much of the world, has given rise to misinformation (including by using stolen human likenesses) as well as conflicts over intellectual property and job displacement. Francis himself was the subject of AI disinformation in 2023 when an AI-generated image depicting him wearing a trendy puffer jacket went viral online -- one of the first widespread incidents showcasing the potential of AI to mislead and misinform. In a warning issued by Francis early last year, the pope addressed the potential of AI to push out "partially or completely false narratives," further cement "echo chambers" and create "new castes based on access to information and thus giving rise to new forms of exploitation and inequality." Leo, the first pontiff born in the U.S., indicated in his Saturday address that he aims to continue furthering the work of Francis, who was known for his commitment to social justice. "It has been clearly seen in the example of so many of my Predecessors, and most recently by Pope Francis himself, with his example of complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life, his abandonment to God throughout his ministry and his serene trust at the moment of his return to the Father's house," the transcript said. "Let us take up this precious legacy and continue on the journey, inspired by the same hope that is born of faith."

The new Pope picked his name for 'the defense of human dignity' amidst the AI revolution

Wake up babe: new Pope just dropped. Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8 following the death of Pope Francis, becoming the first-ever American Pontiff, and on Saturday gave his first address to the College of Cardinals, where he revealed his choice of name was driven by concerns about our age's technological revolutions and AI specifically (thanks, Ars Technica). The Pope's name is Robert Prevost, but as is tradition he got to choose a special papal name, and it turns out "Leo" is a callback to the Pope that led the church during the industrial revolution, as well as a nod to Pope Francis's concerns about where technology is going. "Sensing myself called to continue in this same path [as Pope Francis], I chose to take the name Leo XIV," said the Pope. "There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution." This encyclical's title translates as "Rights and Duties of Capital and Labor" and is subtitled "On the conditions of labour." It was issued by Pope Leo XIII in May 1891 to all Catholic worthies, and is something of a broadside aimed at unrestricted capitalism and how its operation must be tempered by moral considerations: it's particularly noted for its depiction of the condition of the working classes. Getting back to our own age, Pope Leo XIV went on to tell the Cardinals that AI is "another industrial revolution" and presumably requires the same kind of Papal redress. Pope Francis first warned us about AI in August 2023 in his World Day of Peace address, and earlier this year returned to the theme in the essay Antiqua et Nova ("old and new"). "As in all areas where humans are called to make decisions, the shadow of evil also looms here," said Francis. "Where human freedom allows for the possibility of choosing what is wrong, the moral evaluation of this technology will need to take into account how it is directed and used." Pope Leo XIV believes that, much as the industrial revolution upended traditional ways of living and working, AI is going to do the same, and not necessarily for the better. "In our own day," said the Pope, "the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor." Well, seeing the new Pope take up against AI is an odd one. Leo XIV is presumably going to be leading the Catholic church for decades to come (when he's not playing Wordle) and who knows what developments we'll see from the AI sector in that time. But I, for one, am very much looking forward to Sam Altman being subtly dissed in Latin.

Pope Leo highlights AI as challenge to humanity as he lays out vision of papacy

Leo says the Catholic Church must take the lead in facing newer threats to workers, such as artificial intelligence. Pope Leo XIV has said artificial intelligence is one of the main challenges facing humanity as he outlined his vision for the papacy. In his first formal audience, Leo said the Catholic Church must take the lead in facing newer threats to workers, such as AI. The 69-year-old said the technology posed "new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour". The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics referred to AI as he explained his choice of name to the cardinals who elected him. He said he identified with his namesake Pope Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878 to 1903 and addressed workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age in the 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum. The late pope, who laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought, criticised both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," Leo said. The Pope also made clear he will follow in the modernising reforms of his predecessor Pope Francis to make the Catholic Church inclusive, attentive to the faithful, and an institution that looks out for the "least and rejected". Read more from Sky News: Trump says India-Pakistan ceasefire agreed Ukraine presses Russia for ceasefire He said he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernised the church. Toward the end of his pontificate, Francis became increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it. Francis brought his message to the G7 summit of world leaders last year, insisting AI must remain human-centric so decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools always remain made by humans and not machines.

Pope Leo XIV lays out his vision of the papacy and identifies AI as a main challenge for humanity

VATICAN CITY (AP) -- Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity. In his first formal audience, Leo made clear he will follow in the modernizing reforms of his predecessor, Pope Francis, to make the Catholic Church inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the "least and rejected." Citing Francis repeatedly, he told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor. Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching. In his remarks Saturday, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day posed by the industrial revolution in the encyclical. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," he said. Toward the end of his pontificate, Francis became increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it. He warned that such powerful technology risks turning human relations into mere algorithms. Francis brought his message to the Group of Seven industrialized nations when he addressed their summit last year, insisting AI must remain human-centric so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools always remain made by humans and not machines. The late Argentine pope also used his 2024 annual peace message to call for an international treaty to ensure AI is developed and used ethically, arguing that a technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness is too perilous to develop unchecked.

Pope Leo XIV named himself with AI in mind. Here's how

Two days after his election, the newly appointed Pope -- formerly Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago -- addressed the College of Cardinals, invoking the legacy of Pope Leo XIII, who led the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903. He drew a compelling parallel between the transformative forces of the 19th-century Industrial Revolution and the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence in today's world. Responding to the question of how AI influenced his choice of name, he explained, "...I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII, in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum, addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution." In recent years, the Catholic Church has intensified its focus on the ethical dimensions of artificial intelligence. A Vatican document released this January -- now translated into English -- offers a nuanced assessment of AI, probing its limitations, its relationship to truth, and the growing moral concerns surrounding its advancement. The document also references a pointed caution from Pope Francis the previous year, in which he warned of AI's ability to produce "partially or completely false narratives, believed and broadcast as if they were true." Now, Pope Leo XIV has made it clear that he intends to carry forward this legacy. Drawing inspiration from Rerum Novarum, the 1891 encyclical by Pope Leo XIII that addressed the rights of workers during the industrial upheaval of the 19th century, Pope Leo XIV expressed his intention to approach the digital age -- and the AI revolution -- with the same moral clarity and social commitment. In his remarks to the College of Cardinals, he called on the Church to respond to the ethical trials of this new era with the same resolve it once showed during the rise of industrial society. "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," he said.

First American Pope Leo XIV Calls Artificial Intelligence Another Industrial Revolution

Enter your email to get Benzinga's ultimate morning update: The PreMarket Activity Newsletter On Saturday, in his first formal address to cardinals, Pope Leo XIV described artificial intelligence as a transformative force akin to the Industrial Revolution. What Happened: "In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence," the new pope said in Italian, reported CNN. Adding, "These pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor." Born Robert Prevost in Chicago, Leo XIV became the first U.S.-born pontiff when he was elected Thursday. He chose his papal name in honor of Pope Leo XIII, who in 1891 issued Rerum Novarum, a foundational document of Catholic social teaching that addressed the upheavals of the Industrial Revolution, the report noted. See Also: Pope Francis, The People's Pope, Dies At 88: Tributes Pour In From Trump, King Charles, Tim Cook, Joe Biden, Jimmy Fallon, And More The new pope also signaled strong continuity with the late Pope Francis, praising his "complete dedication to service and to sober simplicity of life." Why It's Important: Previously, a review of the new Pope's social media activity on X revealed that Pope Leo XIV had shared posts critical of Donald Trump-era policies, including opposition to anti-immigrant rhetoric, the death penalty and congressional inaction on gun reform. He has also reposted content challenging Vice President JD Vance's interpretations of Christianity. Read Next: Pope Leo XIV-Themed Memecoins Surge After US-Born Robert Francis Prevost Becomes Rome's New Bishop Image Via Shutterstock Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Heed Pope Leo's warning on AI dangers -- and don't let Big Tech...

Pope Leo XIV was entirely right in his warning Saturday: The rise of AI poses "new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor." Challenges that all of us need to consider; we'd be crazy to leave it all up to our tech overlords. The new pope chose the name Leo in tribute to Leo XIII, who faced the moral challenges of the industrial revolution; the new tech revolution will be far more profound. Disturbing things like deepfakes, from porn to political deceptions, are the least of it; even Mark Zuckerberg's vision of everyone having a dozen AI "friends" only scratches the surface. The industrial revolution gave us machines that could perform physical tasks far beyond human ability; AI will do the same for mental work. Using AI to cheat is already rampant among college and high-school students, but the "cheaters" may see more clearly than the outraged old guard: What skills should any of us be developing for the future? Maybe writing papers has become makework. The World Economic Forum predicts that AI will result in the loss of 83 million jobs over the next five years alone, creating perhaps 69 million; over the next few decades the tech will make most of today's First World jobs obsolete. No human will be the smartest one in the room anymore; machines will do virtually every mental task better -- even if some human input is vital to success. Fundamental questions are reopened: What is valuable in any person? What matters in each of us? And we can't leave answering those questions, or deciding how we'll deploy the tech, to the geniuses whose "guidance" left much of the social-media world revolving around clickbait, trolls, "influencers" and moronic TikTok "challenges." We got widespread partisan censorship, addictive algorithms that poison the minds of kids and little-to-no accountability. President Donald Trump named David Sacks, former PayPal COO, as America's AI czar: That may be good enough for government work, but these issues go far beyond the government's reach. The powers of Big Tech have only their own interests and competition in mind; we need to consider society, human development, individual rights and, as the pope put it, "the defense of human dignity, justice and labor." That demands input and discussion involving not just church leaders, theologians and philosophers but deep thinkers from a vast range of fields. Techies and politicians will inevitably play roles, but many different voices need to be in the room -- and heard and heeded. The future of AI will significantly shape the future of humanity; Pope Leo is entirely right to insist that humane leaders are deeply involved in charting the course ahead.

New Pope, Laying out His Vision of the Papacy, Points to AI as a Primary Challenge for Humanity

Leo XIV repeatedly cites Francis' mission statement, making clear a commitment to a more inclusive Church that is attentive to the faithful and looks out for the 'least and rejected.' VATICAN CITY -- Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue in some of the core priorities of Pope Francis. In his first formal audience, Leo repeatedly cited Francis and the Argentine pope's own 2013 mission statement, making clear a commitment to making the Catholic Church more inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the "least and rejected." Leo, the first American pope, told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernized the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labor. Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. The earlier pope did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed the rights of labor and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching. In his remarks Saturday, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day posed by the industrial revolution in the encyclical. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," he said. Toward the end of his pontificate, Francis became increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it. He warned that such powerful technology risks turning human relations into mere algorithms. Francis brought his message to the Group of Seven industrialized nations when he addressed their summit last year, insisting AI must remain human-centric so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools always remain made by humans and not machines. The late Argentine pope also used his 2024 annual peace message to call for an international treaty to ensure AI is developed and used ethically, arguing that a technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness is too perilous to develop unchecked. In the speech, delivered in Italian in the Vatican's synod hall -- not the Apostolic Palace -- Leo made repeated references to Francis and the mourning over his death. He held up Francis' mission statement at the 2013 start of his pontificate, "The Joy of the Gospel," as something of his own marching orders, suggesting he intends very much to continue in Francis' priorities. He cited Francis' insistence on the missionary nature of the church and the need to make its leadership more collegial. He cited the need to pay attention to what the faithful say "especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, especially popular piety." Again, referring to Francis' 2013 mission statement, Leo cited the need for the church to express "loving care for the least and rejected" and engage in courageous dialogue with the contemporary world. Greeted by a standing ovation as he entered, Leo read from his prepared text, only looking up occasionally. Even when he first appeared to the world on the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday night, Leo read from a prepared text that he must have drafted sometime before his historic election or the hour or so after.

Leo XIV lays out vision of papacy and identifies AI as challenge for humanity | BreakingNews.ie

Pope Leo XIV has laid out the vision of his papacy, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity. In his first formal audience, Leo made clear he will follow in the modernising reforms of his predecessor, Pope Francis, to make the Catholic Church inclusive, attentive to the faithful and a church that looks out for the "least and rejected". Citing Francis repeatedly, Leo told the cardinals who elected him that he was fully committed to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s meetings that modernised the church. He identified AI as one of the main issues facing humanity, saying it poses challenges to defending human dignity, justice and labour. Leo referred to AI in explaining the choice of his name: His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pope from 1878 to 1903 and laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought. He did so most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers' rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. The late pope criticised both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching. In his remarks on Saturday, Leo said he identified with his predecessor, who addressed the great social question of the day posed by the industrial revolution in the encyclical. "In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," he said. Toward the end of his pontificate, Francis became increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it. He warned that such powerful technology risks turning human relations into mere algorithms. Francis brought his message to the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations when he addressed their summit last year, insisting AI must remain human-centric so that decisions about when to use weapons or even less-lethal tools always remain made by humans and not machines. The late Argentine pope also used his 2024 annual peace message to call for an international treaty to ensure AI is developed and used ethically, arguing that a technology lacking human values of compassion, mercy, morality and forgiveness is too perilous to develop unchecked.