Pope Leo XIV says artificial intelligence systems should be disarmed and is calling on world governments and United Nations member states to ban lethal autonomous weapons. In a papal address, he said humans must keep effective, informed, and responsible oversight over decisions involving human life and the use of force, and that machines are tools, not persons.

Pope Leo XIV says artificial intelligence systems should be “disarmed,” and he is calling on world governments to ban lethal autonomous weapons.

What did Pope Leo XIV say about AI and weapons?

In a papal address delivered Friday, the pope told participants that humans “have the responsibility to guide, change and, when necessary, reject its applications.” He urged United Nations member states to “take concrete steps toward banning lethal autonomous weapons” at their meeting in Geneva next month.

Should AI systems have rights or legal personhood?

The message echoed his first major papal document, released in May, which focused on “safeguarding the human person in the time of artificial intelligence.” Pope Leo repeated its central argument in the new address. “Machines are tools, not persons,” he said, cautioning against giving AI systems rights or legal personhood.

Who should control decisions about AI and the use of force?

Decisions involving human life, freedom and the use of force, he said, “must always remain subject to effective, informed, and responsible human oversight.”

The pope is not the first to press the issue. In 2024, Pope Francis called for a ban on autonomous weapons, saying, “No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.”

AI has become a recurring theme for Pope Leo. He has suggested he chose his name because he must confront advances in the technology, much as Pope Leo XIII led the Church at the forefront of the Industrial Revolution.

He closed the address by calling on international institutions to protect the common good from AI-related risks. He asked for “shared standards, independent oversight and clear mechanisms of accountability so that decisions concerning the development and use of AI can be examined, challenged when necessary, and accompanied by appropriate remedies for any harm caused.”

Este artículo fue escrito con la asistencia de IA.
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