Pope Leo XIV says AI systems should be “disarmed,” adding that humans “have the responsibility to guide, change and, when necessary, reject its applications.” In Friday’s Papal Address, Pope Leo encourages United Nations member states to “take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons” during their meeting in Geneva next month.
The address reflects many of the ideas Pope Leo laid out in his first major papal document in May, which highlighted “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” In line with his encyclical, Pope Leo tells participants that “Machines are tools, not persons,” and warns about the dangers of granting AI systems rights or legal personhood. “Decisions affecting human life, freedom, and the use of force must always remain subject to effective, informed, and responsible human oversight,” Pope Leo says.
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.” AI has become a popular topic for Pope Leo, who suggests he chose his name because he must confront advances in the technology — similar to how Pope Leo XIII presided over the church at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.
Pope Leo closes out his address by calling for international institutions to safeguard the common good from AI-related risks, along with “shared standards, independent oversight and clear mechanisms of accountability so that decisions concerning the development and use of AI can be examined, challenged when necessary, and accompanied by appropriate remedies for any harm caused.”
Machines are not persons yet.
humans “have the responsibility
Machines are tools, not persons
No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being
I say these are wise words.
They will counter with “if we don’t use them, we’ll be leaving ourselves open to enemies who will.” Setting aside the inevitable “you are the enemy” argument/retort, there is some valid logic to this. IMHO, the end result should be laws - with significant teeth and provisions that make them as impervious to politics as possible - that hold the designers and users of such weapons accountable for the “choices” such weapons make. Yeah, we need to prepare for the worst, but acknowledge that “worst” can be from both external and internal forces.
They will counter with “if we don’t use them, we’ll be leaving ourselves open to enemies who will.”
Stupid.
That argument “works” only if you have already distanced yourself from all sane and sensible principles, like the ones I have quoted.
Or, in “Star Wars” words: if you belong to the dark side :)
Thanks for reiterating the “you are the enemy” part I explicitly set aside. Those people never had “sane and sensible principles” to distance themselves from, which is why I’m being pragmatic in the fact it’s going to happen whether we like it or not. My suggested approach - considering about half the human population suffers from conservative “principles” - is to at least try to force them to be as cautious about their approach as possible.
hypocritical words coming from the catholic church, most famous for pedophilia, wealth hoarding, and war.
Pope said Butlarian Jihad
I disagree. The persons making AI are definitely tools.
Unless I misunderstood the statement.
Wrong, in the US the tool is never ever the problem.
Unless, I misunderstood the statement.
I agree with this PapaI decree
You can have this one free of charge
Next ones gonna cost ya
One thing leads to another and sooner or later you’re putting a life-size crucifix in your living room
I’m not Catholic but I might just be willing to convert
Marketing types must love you.
And I love them
I love cats if it helps
Thou shalt not allow a thinking machine to exist.
Well, it would have to think first, which LLMs objectively dont do.
“AI has become a popular topic for Pope Leo, who suggests he chose his name because he must confront advances in the technology”
I think he’s the tool, making a song and dance about anything aside from the horrific global corruption and human suffering he is the overseer of.
He just just loves throwing stones from his glass city state immune from the law.
Let’s get the opinion of the artist formerly known as Prince Andrew and Kirill for good measure, maybe JK Rowling too.
And humans are just animals so I call for disarmament of people.
Until bullying - which pretty much is entirely responsible for making conservatives, IMHO - is eliminated, too many people will never be disarmed.
The law is also a tool and its what defined personhood so…
Would you rather leave your kid alone in a room with an AI or alone in a room with a priest.
I wish he would spend as much time on cleaning his own house as he does pandering to the masses. We hear about the Pope everyday because he’s pouring money into a media campaign. The church is vile.
False equivalence since AI doesn’t have physical access. But it can - and has - harmed kids just as badly, including talking them into suicide.
The point is still valid, why is anyone using the head of the catholic church as some supposed source of morality, and wisdom?
People are zombies.
My point is that one org doing something bad doesn’t vindicate the other. I’m not in the comments praising openais suicide machine but a lot of people here are praising the church’s rape machine just because it’s saying something they want to hear.
Fuck the Pope, the church doesn’t give a fuck about what’s good for society or what’s good for kids. This is propaganda from an evil organisation, nothing more. I think it’s healthy to call out the recent media campaign for what it is.
I doubt anyone thought either was vindicated. I’m against religion in general myself. In particular, the Catholic church’s denial of human sexuality to its own officers is rationally absurd, and a prime cause of its own problems in that area, IMHO.
Yet you are here defending and upvoting their propaganda article?
Let’s put a different spin on it, read the comments but imagine the articles was about the KKK coming out and saying AI sucks.
If an article starts with “the KKK says”, “Putin says” or “the church says”. The only valid response is to loudly declare they can go fuck themselves, not “wise words” and " I agree with the KKK decree". Especially if it’s clearly propaganda slop during a quite aggressive media campaign. Seriously, there’s two Pope articles hitting all a day.
I’m “defending” nothing. I called out your false equivalence, while pointing out they’ve both done damage. You, on the other hand, found only what you wanted to find.
It’s obvious you’re very angry at the church, and there’s no argument that they have been far less repentant than they should have been by now. That doesn’t make them automatically the worst evil in a world full-to-bursting with “very bad things.”
Al can be no less evil even if it is the new kid on the block with far less history of abuse behind it. It can be considered worse, in fact, because it is (or soon will be) affecting many more people’s lives than the Catholic Church. People can leave the Catholic Church behind. AI? Not so much. It’s here to stay, and the current battle is just over in what form it will continue to affect the entire world.
Fair enough, I didn’t really adress your point and I am angry at the church. I have a hard time dealing with them getting a soap box when they mostly spread hate.
I see them as using the AI debate to get new members or at least stop the current ones from leaving so quickly. I think it’s a worrisome situation, false equivalence or not.
Now that’s something I can almost fully agree with. They are far from the only religious organization don’t even come close to living up to their claimed ideals, however, so singling them out for that feels a bit unfair to me.
Religion in general seems to be slowly declining in popularity, tho. That can lead to better informed and reasonable people, which ultimately makes for a better future in the long run. AI is negating that “better informed” part, however, and that’s a huge concern to me as without it much of humanity will wind up like lambs in the slaughterhouse.
