(NewsNation) — Pope Leo XIV has issued a warning about artificial intelligence and the risks the technology poses, issuing some rules of thumb: Do not give up your ability to think critically or allow AI to replace human relationships.
In his message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications, the American pontiff said, “Technology must serve the human person, not replace it.”
Shortly after he was elected in May of 2025, the Chicago-born pope said he would make navigating the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence one of the major priorities of his pontificate.
Due to his focus on AI, Leo was named to the 2025 “Time 100 AI” list as a key thinker shaping how humanity confronts AI.
In his latest message on modern communication, Pope Leo said that “preserving human faces and voices” means preserving God’s imprint on each human being, which is an “indelible reflection of God’s love.”
The pope warned against artificial intelligence replacing human relationships.
“By simulating human voices and faces, wisdom and knowledge, consciousness and responsibility, empathy and friendship,” artificial intelligence can “encroach upon the deepest level of communication, that of human relationships,” he said.
The pontiff added that relying on AI as an “omniscient friend, source of all knowledge … or an oracle of all advice” can erode our ability to think analytically and creatively.
Replacing human interactions with chatbots presents a dangerous scenario, according to the pope.
“Because chatbots are excessively ‘affectionate,’ as well as always present and accessible, they can become hidden architects of our emotional states and so invade and occupy our sphere of intimacy,” Leo wrote.
“When we substitute relationships with others for AI systems that catalog our thoughts … we are robbed of the opportunity to encounter others,” he said.
Path forward for ethical use of AI
Despite the challenges, the pope provided some guidelines to make sure mankind uses AI prudently and in a healthy way.
“The task … is not to stop digital innovation, but rather to guide it and to be aware of its ambivalent nature,” he said.
Pope Leo calls for transparency, ethical governance, clear labeling of AI-generated content and AI literacy.
‘“It is increasingly urgent to introduce media, information and AI literacy into education systems at all levels … so that individuals – especially young people – can acquire critical thinking skills and grow in freedom of spirit,” the pope wrote.
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