Rome [Italy], May 27: Pope Leo XIV on Monday published a more than 100-page treatise on the subject of artificial intelligence, using his first encyclical since taking office a year ago to warn of the many dangers that the technology poses to humanity.
In the document, entitled "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity), the pope calls for strict guidelines on how to deal with AI, while also outlining the opportunities it brings.
The first encyclical issued by a new pope is generally seen as a kind of policy declaration for his papacy, providing the world's 1.4 billion Catholics with a moral compass on the topic at hand.
Safeguarding humanity in the era of AI The encyclical bears the subtitle: "On safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence."
Although the first US-born pope has warned about AI several times over recent months, the document emphasizes that the technology can be a "valuable tool" in various fields.
But Leo says that the advantages are unequally shared, benefitting the few people who already carry significant wealth. This means that "small but highly influential groups can shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes and steer economic dynamics to their own advantage," he writes.
For this reason, the pope goes on, it is essential that the use of AI "be guided by clear criteria and effective oversight, grounded in participation and subsidiarity."
He calls for "robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility," and emphasizes that the handling of user data must also be regulated.
In addition to stricter regulation, Leo stresses that AI must be underpinned by human values and morality. This will, however, be no use, he says, "if that morality is determined by a few" - in what is interpreted as criticism of tech billionaires in the United States.
Resisting AI-generated lies In the document, the pope also warns against falling for AI-generated lies and fakes: "Let us remain faithful to the truth!"
"Living amid incessant flows of information, opinions and images, we know how easy it can be to influence decisions and preferences through increasingly sophisticated algorithms," he writes, calling for humanity to "pursue wisdom rather than immediate results."
Risks of AI in autonomous weapons systems
The pontiff is particularly critical of the impact of AI's impact on conflicts, arguing that AI-supported autonomous weapons systems have made war "more feasible."
Decisions about life and death must under no circumstances be left to machines, he says. "It is not permissible to entrust lethal or otherwise irreversible decisions to artificial systems."
The pope says AI must be "disarmed" - in both a military and economic sense -and prevented from dominating humanity. Against slavery Leo also warns of AI's negative influences on the world of work, speaking of "new forms of slavery" in data centres or in the manufacture of microchips and smartphones.
Source: Qatar Tribune
