Pope Leo XIV said at the recent event that companies should abide by an “ethical criterion” that respects human dignity. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and parliamentary delegations from 68 countries were also present at the event. During the first few weeks of his papacy, Pope Leo discussed this topic on a number of occasions. He mentioned in his talk that AI must take “into account the well-being of the human person not only materially, but also intellectually and spiritually”.
In his talk, he also discussed the effect of artificial intelligence on Children’s neurological and intellectual development, and mentioned that social well-being depends on the God-given capabilities of human beings. No generation has ever had such quick access to the content that is now generated through AI. This is causing such indolence in the young generation that they rely on artificial intelligence to do their routine tasks completely.
He noted that AI’s static memory was in no way comparable to the creative, dynamic power of human memory. Our personal life has greater value than any algorithm, and social relationships require spaces for development that far transcend the limited patterns that any soulless machine can pre-package, he said.
Moreover, we should remember that AI is a tool for the good of human beings, not to diminish them. This aspect means a lot, particularly when we see how artificial intelligence is being used to create content, control thoughts, and even the way we interact with each other. We should positively use AI, but there is likewise the possibility of its misuse for selfish gain at the expense of others, or worse, to foment conflict and aggression.
A number of concerns are being raised due to the development of AI, including declining content quality, job losses, and many more. Pope Leo’s statement is valid, as we have noticed the development in AI by giant tech industries. We received the news of layoffs in jobs in different departments at Microsoft recently. This clearly shows that artificial intelligence is causing issues for humans that need to be addressed. It’s a wake-up call; these technologies must be controlled before they control us.
