VATICAN CITY - Pope Leo issued his first major document on Monday, a nearly 43,000-word encyclical titled "Magnifica Humanitas" (Magnificent Humanity), calling for urgent international regulation to slow the development of artificial intelligence systems. He warned that unchecked AI spreads misinformation, deepens inequality, and could lead the world toward unending war.
The Pontiff criticized the concentration of technological power in the hands of a few private, often transnational parties, saying this makes governance and oversight increasingly difficult. He stressed that "ownership of data cannot be left solely in private hands but must be appropriately regulated."
On warfare, the document highlighted how AI blurs the line between defense and aggression, lowers the threshold for the use of force, and risks reducing victims to "collateral damage." The Pope explicitly stated, "it is not permissible to entrust lethal or otherwise irreversible decisions to artificial systems."
The encyclical also addressed disinformation, calling indifference to truth a path to totalitarianism, and warned that automation and robotics are transforming work in ways that may not benefit society. Pope Leo urged international cooperation to protect vulnerable countries and ensure the common good.