Pope Leo Says AI Warnings Deserve Serious Attention
The pontiff says he is not alarmed by predictions of catastrophic AI risk, but argues governments and institutions cannot ignore them.
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Pope Leo XIV said warnings that advanced artificial intelligence could pose severe risks to humanity should be taken seriously, even as he rejected the idea that such scenarios should trigger panic.
“I’m not in panic mode, no I’m not, I sleep at night,” Leo told reporters on Sept. 28 while returning to Rome from France. But he said concerns raised by AI researchers and industry figures should not be dismissed as exaggerated or fabricated.
The comments come amid a wider debate over how quickly increasingly capable AI systems should be developed and what safeguards should accompany them. Researchers and executives at several leading AI companies have recently raised concerns about cyber risks, autonomous agents and the possibility of future systems becoming difficult to control.
Leo said the Vatican has created its own commission on artificial intelligence to oversee the technology’s use within the Church and examine its broader implications.
The commission is also intended to support research and discussion around ways to prevent AI from developing beyond effective human oversight, he said.
“But we have to keep working. We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing is going to happen,” Leo said.
The pope has already made AI governance a significant theme of his papacy. His May encyclical Magnifica Humanitascalled for regulation and stronger human accountability as AI becomes more deeply embedded in society.
His latest remarks stop short of endorsing the most severe predictions about AI. Instead, Leo argued that uncertainty around the technology is itself a reason for governments, researchers and institutions to keep examining the risks rather than waiting for clearer evidence of harm.
