Pope Leo warns against AI creating ‘paradise of machines’ in first visit to France

Giving an early indication of what he will want to say about the role of AI later, Pope Leo says that while “technological development has contributed to a significant improvement in the living conditions of humanity,” it also regularly prompted discussions about “the ambiguous side of technology, which can cause harm when not used for good.”

He warns about AI creating “a paradise of machines” – it’s a reference to Georges Bernanos’s 1947 essay France Against the Robots – and the need to avoid this, as “the French civilisation worked for centuries to cultivate free individuals fully responsible for their actions.”

He says there is an urgent concern that “we do not lose our humanity amid the paradise of machines that are invading and conditioning our daily lives.”

“There is an urgent need to train minds in ethical discernment, capable of recognising what is morally good,” he says.