In a Friday Papal Address, Pope Leo XIV called for AI systems to be “disarmed” and said humans “have the responsibility to guide, change and, when necessary, reject its applications.” He encouraged United Nations member states to “take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons” during their upcoming meeting in Geneva next month. Reiterating a theme from his encyclical, he stated that “Machines are tools, not persons.”
The address builds on ideas from his first major papal document in May, which emphasized “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.”
Why it matters
The statement adds a prominent religious voice to ongoing debates over autonomous weapons and the limits of AI, framing the issue around human responsibility and the distinction between tools and persons. It comes ahead of a scheduled UN meeting in Geneva.
Who should care
Policymakers, participants in international forums on autonomous weapons, and those following ethical and regulatory discussions about AI.