Pope urges AI limits

Pope Leo XIV has urged United Nations member states to ban lethal autonomous weapons and to disarm artificial intelligence systems. He issued these calls during a papal address delivered on Friday. The remarks come ahead of a meeting in Geneva scheduled for next month.

The Pope stated that machines are tools rather than persons. He warned against granting AI systems rights or legal personhood. According to the address, humans hold the responsibility to guide, change, and reject AI applications when necessary.

This position aligns with the Pope’s first major encyclical, published in May. That document focused on safeguarding the human person during the rise of artificial intelligence. In Friday’s speech, Leo emphasized that decisions regarding human life, freedom, and the use of force must remain under effective and informed human oversight.

The current Pope follows a precedent set by his predecessor, Pope Francis. In 2024, Francis argued that no machine should choose to take a human life. Leo has suggested he selected his name to confront technological advances, drawing a parallel to Pope Leo XIII, who led the church during the Industrial Revolution.

The address concluded with a call for international institutions to protect the common good from AI-related risks. The Pope advocated for shared standards, independent oversight, and clear accountability mechanisms. These frameworks would allow decisions on AI development and use to be examined and challenged, with remedies available for any resulting harm.