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.”
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.