Pope warns over use of AI in military
Pope Leo XIV has issued a stern warning about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in military applications, saying that allowing machines to make life-and-death decisions in warfare represents a profound ethical threat to humanity and civilisation. In a message released ahead of the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace, the pontiff criticised the growing tendency among political and military leaders to delegate critical decisions to AI-driven systems, including autonomous weapons and automated battlefield technologies. He described this shift as a “destructive betrayal” of humanism and civilisational principles, emphasising that machines lack the moral responsibility and human judgment needed for actions involving human life. Pope Leo highlighted serious ethical dilemmas posed by emerging military uses of AI, noting that such technologies could undermine accountability and diminish respect for human dignity if left unchecked. His message reflects broader concerns about the rapid development and deployment of AI-enabled systems without adequate ethical oversight and safeguards.
The Pope’s intervention builds on wider Catholic ethical thought urging that AI be used for the common good, not to replace human judgement or devalue life, and stressing the need for regulation and human control over powerful technologies especially in contexts like armed conflict where consequences are irreversible.
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