Pope Leo XIV: AI can never be a person; its future depends on our choices

Pope Leo XIV emphasized that artificial intelligence (AI) can never replace the human person and that AI regulation must continue.

“Machines are tools, not persons,” Leo said in his address .

The pontiff held a private audience on Friday with participants in a meeting on “The Future of AI: A Dialogue Between the Vatican and the Scientific World on the Development and Applications of Intelligent Technologies” at the Vatican. The Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute organized the one-day conference.

AI cannot be given human rights or personhood During the meeting, members of the Vatican Commission on Artificial Intelligence and scholars discussed ongoing concerns as AI continues to develop.

Noting this concern in his address, the pope warned against efforts to grant AI technologies rights and legal status comparable to those of human beings.

“Today, some propose granting these systems rights, or even legal personhood,” Leo said. “Such an approach risks obscuring human responsibility and leaving those who suffer harm to confront a faceless entity.”

A group photo with Pope Leo XIV and the participants of the meeting “The Future of AI: A Dialogue…