VATICAN CITY (AP) 鈥� called Monday for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit, issuing a sweeping manifesto on safeguarding humankind as the technology impacts everything from work to war.
鈥淢agnifica Humanitas鈥� (Magnificent Humanity), , has been eagerly awaited ever since history鈥檚 first U.S.-born pope announced days after his election that he considered AI to be the biggest challenge facing humanity today.
In the text, Leo denounced the 鈥渃ulture of power鈥� driving the AI race, especially in developing ever more sophisticated methods of remote warfare. He declared that it was 鈥渘ot permissible鈥� to entrust irreversible, lethal decisions to AI systems, setting up another flash point between the American pope and the Trump administration, which has
Experts in the tech industry, academia and Catholic morality said the document will likely become a benchmark in the debate over AI, a point of reference for policymakers, researchers and ordinary folk alike. It comes as the near-daily developments in the technology trigger concerns rise over AI replacing human jobs and even human intelligence.
鈥淚t lends itself to people who are at the forefront of these tools and able to see the incredible things that they鈥檙e able to do, to have questions about their own 鈥榃hat does it mean to be human?鈥欌�� said Taylor Black, a Microsoft AI executive and director of Catholic University of America鈥檚 AI institute.
Pope calls out AI companies even as he hosts Anthropic
The pope presented the text at a Vatican launch Monday that featured the co-founder of Anthropic, which is currently locked in a over access to its AI technology. The Vatican decided to involve Anthropic as part of its decade-long effort to engage Silicon Valley in dialogue over the human cost of AI.
And yet in his text, Leo repeatedly blasted the concentration of power and data in the hands of so few people in the private sector as a danger, especially to children and the most vulnerable, and called for external regulation of their work.
鈥淚t is not enough to invoke ethics in the abstract; robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required,鈥� he wrote. 鈥淎 more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few.鈥�
Leo appealed several times to AI developers and political leaders responsible for regulating them to just slow down and reflect on what they are doing. He urged them to use ethical and spiritual guidelines to make the choice to work not for their own profit or power, but the betterment of humanity.
AI competitors OpenAI and Anthropic are the second- and third-most valuable U.S. private companies, each valued at hundreds of billions of dollars, more than the GDP of many nations.
Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah welcomed Leo’s criticism and concern, saying such external checks on AI and the researchers behind it were fundamental to the technology 鈥済oing well鈥� for humankind since there is so much at stake 鈥� 鈥渁 real possibility that AI will displace human labor at a very large scale.鈥�
鈥淲e need more of the world 鈥� religious communities, civil society, scholars, governments 鈥� to do what His Holiness has done here: to take this seriously, to look closely, and to push events in a better direction,鈥� Olah said. 鈥淲e need informed critics who will tell the labs when we are failing. We need moral voices that the incentives cannot bend.鈥�
Experts say the text will become a benchmark
In a methodical text, the math major pope traced the history of the Catholic Church鈥檚 social teaching and applied its core concepts 鈥� justice, solidarity, the dignity of work and the universal destination of resources 鈥� to the digital revolution.
鈥淚 am convinced that this will prove to be a defining document for our era, a profound and prophetic document,鈥� said Paolo Carozza, law professor at Notre Dame Law School and chair of the Meta oversight board.
鈥淧ope Leo is offering a clear, comprehensive, and coherent voice urging us to take responsibility for constructing a world in which technology will serve humans rather than degrade them,鈥� he said.
In its strongest chapters, Leo denounced how AI had helped accelerate the 鈥渘ormalization of war鈥� by desensitizing people to its cost. He didn鈥檛 name specific conflicts, but cited 鈥渙pposing imperialisms, between powers that wish to preserve their supremacy, and those that aspire to seize that supremacy.鈥�
He demanded transparency and accountability by AI developers so that the chain of decision-making command in ordering strikes with AI weaponry is always known. He declared that the Catholic Church鈥檚 鈥渏ust war鈥� theory, which provides specific criteria for when force can be justified, was now 鈥渙utdated鈥� given the technological advances of warfare.
A text in the church鈥檚 social justice tradition
Leo signed the text May 15, the 135th anniversary of the publication of 鈥淩erum Novarum鈥� (Of New Things), the most important teaching document of Leo鈥檚 hero and namesake, Pope Leo XIII. That document addressed workers鈥� rights, the limits of capitalism, and the obligations that states and employers owed workers as the Industrial Revolution was underway.
It became the foundation of modern Catholic social thought, and the current pope cited it at the start of his pontificate in relation to the , which he believes poses the same existential questions that the Industrial Revolution posed over a century ago. 鈥淢agnifica Humanitas鈥� thus becomes the latest chapter in a century-long history of popes adapting 鈥淩erum Novarum鈥� to the social questions of their times, often dwelling on the dignity of work for human flourishing.
AI is evoking both amid an intensifying debate on whether it will become a catalyst that enriches humanity or a technological toxin that dulls human intelligence while wiping out millions of high-paying jobs.
鈥淭he pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs, because the human person is an end, not a means, and the economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good,鈥� Leo wrote.
Leo extended his concern for upholding human dignity in labor to issue the first-ever papal apology for the Holy See鈥檚 own by giving European sovereigns explicit authority to subjugate and enslave 鈥渋nfidels.鈥�
A decade-long dialogue with Silicon Valley
Vatican officials declined to say who exactly contributed to Leo鈥檚 encyclical. But Vatican and church officials have been engaged in a dialogue with Silicon Valley tech firms for a decade. Toward the end of his pontificate, Pope Francis began about AI and the risks it poses to humanity.
The decision to include Anthropic at the Vatican launch was criticized by some who considered it a papal stamp of approval of the AI firm.
In February, the Trump administration ordered all U.S. agencies to Anthropic鈥檚 technology after it refused to allow the U.S. military unrestricted use of it. Anthropic, which bills itself as the AI company that puts safety and risk-mitigation at the forefront of its research, is currently .
Brian Boyd, U.S. faith liaison for the nonprofit Future of Life Institute, read the inclusion of Anthropic鈥檚 co-founder Olah as similar to a papal audience with a head of state: not an endorsement.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 more like a recognition of (how) this is an extremely powerful company that鈥檚 currently winning this race to replace human workers,鈥� Boyd said.
Anthropic is an 鈥渆normous corporation that is taking onto itself an enormous risk and responsibility,鈥� Boyd continued, but said the company has 鈥渄emonstrated genuine goodwill and integrity and interest in dialogue.鈥�
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Winfield reported from Middletown, Connecticut, and Houmani reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press writers Kelvin Chan in London and Colleen Barry in Milan contributed to this report.
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