Pope Leo issues dire warning on anti-human AI and new Tower of Babel in first encyclical | Latest Tech News
Pope Leo XIV on Monday issued a dire warning about the risk of “anti-human” AI in the first major theological doc of his papacy — saying humanity is establishing a disastrous prideful Tower of Babel.
The first American pontiff used his encyclical — an official open letter from the pope to the Catholic Church — to call for the use of artificial intelligence in warfare to be subject to “the most rigorous ethical restraints,” warning that technology is fueling global conflicts.
Pope Leo XIV calls for sturdy regulation of artificial intelligence and for its builders to work for the common good reasonably than revenue. REUTERS
“Magnifica Humanitas,” or “Magnificent Humanity,” is Pope Leo’s first encyclical. AFP via Getty Images
The 70-year-old Chicago-born head of the Catholic Church in contrast the risk posed by AI to the biblical Tower of Babel.
Pope Leo, who beforehand described AI as the largest problem going through humanity, famous that the Tower of Babel was a doomed attempt by people to “make a name” for themselves by making an attempt to construct a single energy and one language as they sought to erect a construction to Heaven.
He said the biblical story is a warning against a plan that “dominates and ultimately dehumanizes,” including that instead, AI’s development ought to be formed by various opinions and teams.
His letter appeared to put the Vatican in direct battle with Silicon Valley executives — and at additional odds with the Trump administration.
In the textual content, Leo denounces the “culture of power” driving the AI race, particularly in developing ever more subtle strategies of distant warfare. REUTERS
“The primary choice is not between a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to technology, but rather between constructing Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem,” the pope wrote.
Unfettered technological development dangers decreasing people “to mere cogs in a system driven toward ever greater efficiency.”
Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of “Magnifica Humanitas,” which is concentrated on the rise of artificial intelligence, at the Vatican’s Aula Nuova del Sinodo, on Monday. REUTERS
Titled “Magnifica Humanitas,” or “Magnificent Humanity,” Pope Leo’s encyclical, which is predicted to outline his papacy, demanded safety for what he called the distinctive “grandeur of humanity.”
AI “threatens to normalize an anti-human vision,” and so it can not stay in the control “of a few” personal actors, Leo said in his practically 43,000-word encyclical, one of the best types of instructing from a pontiff to the Church’s 1.4 billion members.
“What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating,” the pontiff said.
The pope called for “robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility.”
Pope Leo XIV greets Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah during Monday’s presentation. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
Common smartphone AI apps are Claude by Anthropic, ChatGPT by OpenAI, Gemini by Google, and Grok by xAI. NurPhoto via Getty Images
Pope Leo introduced Monday’s 235-page booklet alongside Chris Olah, a co-founder of the AI company Anthropic, which has been in a legal dispute with President Trump’s administration over the use of its technology in army and protection operations.
Echoing the pope’s call for larger accountability of AI bosses, Olah said choices “should not be left to people in the industry” but instead requires a collective decision.
Olah said three key rules contain a “duty to the global poor,” “moral imagination and ambition” and the “need for discernment.”
Olah also warns Monday about the risks of AI to humanity. AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino
The encylical might be the most important of the American pope’s reign. AFP via Getty Images
“Every frontier AI lab, including Anthropic, operates inside a set of incentives and constraints that can sometimes conflict with doing the right thing,” Olah told the viewers at the Vatican.
The pope also issued a critique of “transhumanism,” the thought that technology can help a particular person overcome bodily and organic limitations such as ageing, as properly as “posthumanism,” which blurs the boundaries between people and machines.
“We cannot consider AI to be morally neutral. Every technical tool embodies choice and priorities through what it measures, ignores, and optimizes, and how it classifies people and situations,” Leo wrote.
Trump has been essential of the pope over his stance on the Iran conflict and has also taken a hands-off method to AI regulation.
While his doc centered primarily on AI, Leo also appeared to ship a barb toward Vice President JD Vance, too, after the Catholic pol beforehand called on the pope to “be careful when he talks about matters of theology,” following his criticism of joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
The pope called the “just war” principle of Christian doctrine “now outdated,” including that army pressure can only be used for “self-defense in the strictest sense.”
With Post wires
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