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The Pope has set his sights on the technology industry, vowing to prioritise dealing with the threat of artificial intelligence (AI) on humanity.
The Chigaco, USA-born Pope Leo XIV outlined his priorities in his new position for the first time to a hall full of cardinals earlier this week, saying he would use the position to challenge the threat of AI on human workers, creators, and humanity.
“Today, the church offers its trove of social teaching to respond to another industrial revolution and to innovations in the field of artificial intelligence that pose challenges to human dignity, justice and labour,” he announced to the College of Cardinals, who cheered in response, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
The new Pope’s stance on developing technology and AI is a unique one, breaking the mould on Silicon Valley’s attempts to make it an ally.
In the past, Google, Microsoft, Cisco, and other tech giants have visited the Vatican to discuss the moral and philosophical implications of developing technologies, including AI, in an attempt to win the Vatican over as an authority on morality.
However, while debates remain civil, the Vatican is pushing for a binding international AI treaty, something tech CEOs may see as hampering progress, many of whom would prefer ethical guidelines to a legally binding treaty.
Pope Leo XIV’s stance on the technology, like former Pope Francis, who was much less tech-savvy, is strongly for legally binding regulation in an effort to protect human workers and their livelihoods, as well as eliminating threats to humanity.
The 267th Pope chose his namesake in honour of Pope Leo XIII, who fought for factory worker rights in the late 19th century when industrialisation and a push for rapid economic growth were the priority for industrial barons, who pushed for fast change, which resulted in societal inequality.
“Leo XIV wants the worlds of science and politics to immediately tackle this problem without allowing scientific progress to advance with arrogance, harming those who have to submit to its power,” said friend of Pope Leo XIV and Cardinal Giuseppe Versaldi.
Google, Meta, Anthropic, Cohere, IBM, and Palantir are set to visit the Vatican this week during a two-day conference in Rome on AI ethics.
Pope Leo XIV is expected to address the conference with a written message but has yet to meet with major tech CEOs.
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