Pope Leo XIV affirmed his desire to promote dialogue with leaders in artificial intelligence in a message to participants of the AI for Good Global Summit. The major conference is taking place July 7-10 in Geneva, Switzerland. The Swiss government and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) co-organized the event. The Vatican will officially present Leo XIV’s recent encyclical, Magnifica humanitas—which warns of the challenges AI poses to humanity—during the event.
Pope Leo XIV sent a message to the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva, urging a dialogue to address the loss of human agency in critical areas.
The Pope’s brief message was transmitted in a letter signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. Noting that AI raises “some of the major questions of our time regarding the future of humanity,” the Pontiff spoke of an “epochal turning point.” He assured participants that the Holy See wishes to dialogue with all stakeholders in this sector.
He forcefully expressed this same desire in his recent encyclical, which is “dedicated to the safeguarding of the human person in the age of AI.” Dialogue with "all men and women of our time” is necessary, in the pontiff's view, “to identify new paths for the common good and for promoting a dignified life for all.”
The potential of AI and the risk of misuse
Leo XIV explained that the text was “impelled by troubling accounts of the potential misuses of algorithms and by the loss of human agency in critical areas.” However, it was also inspired by listening “to scientists and engineers who work with sincere enthusiasm on technologies capable of alleviating immense suffering.”
The message was read late in the afternoon of July 8 in Geneva before a presentation of Magnifica humanitas. The presentation took place on the main stage of the event in the presence of Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, and Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, permanent observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva. Bishop Tighe recently told I.MEDIA that the Holy See has been overwhelmed by requests since the publication of the papal encyclical.
