Time magazine has named Pope Leo XIV one of the top 25 AI thinkers in the world. As a part of their “Time 100 AI” list, Time noted that Pope Leo is already “making good on his vow” to defend human dignity amidst the AI revolution.
The pope's profile highlighted that, from the very beginning of his papacy and by the very choice of his papal name, Pope Leo XIV paralleled his predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, who challenged of the immorality and injustice of the industrial revolution in the late 19th century.
Pope Leo himself referenced the inheritance of his name during his first official meeting with the cardinals, only three days after his election. In that same audience, he also warned against the dangers of unrestricted AI development.
POPE LEO XIV
He tackled the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. Today, the Church offers to all its social doctrine heritage to respond to another industrial revolution and the development of artificial intelligence, which present new challenges for defending human dignity, justice, and work.
Pope Leo has reiterated his stance on the importance of developing AI morality alongside the technological progression multiple times, and the Vatican is scheduled to host multiple AI conferences and events in the upcoming years.
FR. ROBERT GAHL
Catholic University of America
This new technology affects how we understand ourselves. So it's not so much as a specific issue, but it's the very broad thing of it affects how we think, it affects how we relate to other people, and Pope Leo has already developed this in his brief papacy so far, in some of his magisterium.
While many people have already thought of Pope Leo as a leader in the moral AI conversation, Time magazine has solidified the American pope as a “spiritual counterweight” to Silicon Valley.
CRT
