Pope Leo cautions against AI misuse during three-day France visit
During his first papal trip to France in 18 years, Pope Leo warned that artificial intelligence must serve humanity and urged ethical education, while also addressing broader concerns about law, war and social issues.
Pope Leo used the opening of his three-day visit to France to warn that artificial intelligence could erode human dignity if it becomes a "paradise of machines" that shapes daily life. He said people need education in ethical discernment to recognise what is morally right.
Speaking later at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, the 71-year-old pontiff stressed that new technologies must remain "at the service of the human person rather than becoming yet another instrument of domination and injustice." He added that any science pursued without ethics risks losing its proper meaning, and that labeling computational systems as "intelligence" should not diminish the inalienable dignity of humans.
"Instead of respecting the law, those in power invoke it when it serves their interests and disregard it when it restrains them, treating even justice itself as though it were a commodity to be bought and sold," Leo said, criticizing leaders who ignore the rule of law.
Leo also expressed concern over recent French legislation allowing assisted dying, warning that it could lead to profit-driven ventures such as genetic manipulation, surrogacy, organ trade or the commercialization of death. He urged French authorities to remain a "tireless champion of peace" and cautioned against accepting war as inevitable.
The visit includes a large outdoor Mass at Place de la Concorde, a speech on European peace in Metz, and a private meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse in Lourdes. Leo welcomed journalists on his plane, reaffirming the importance of media coverage of public figures.