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In a recent commentary for Angelus News, Father Philip Larrey, a noted expert on artificial intelligence, explained why Pope Leo XIV’s immediate focus on AI is not only significant but urgently needed.
Just two days after his election, Pope Leo met with the College of Cardinals and declared, “I chose to take the name Leo XIV… mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution.”
He continued, “In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice, and labor.”
In his article, Fr. Larrey said that this early address is a clear sign that Pope Leo intends to provide the Church’s moral guidance at the dawn of this new technological age — just as Leo XIII did during the upheaval of industrialization.
>> Full text: Pope Leo XIV explains name choice, opens dialogue in first meeting with cardinals <<
Fr. Larrey noted that Pope Leo’s American background gives him a unique vantage point. Having grown up in Chicago, the new pope has lived in a country immersed in digital culture.
“He’s already demonstrated he’s as familiar as any of us with digital technology and how ordinary people — as well as those at the helm in Silicon Valley — use it,” Fr. Larrey wrote.
That background may give Pope Leo a distinct ease in engaging the tech leaders shaping AI’s future, according to Fr. Larrey.
“As pope, he will also have direct access to the tech titans building AI platforms, which should allow him to influence (to a greater or lesser extent) the development of the technology,” he added. “Exercising such an influence will not be easy or automatic. Market forces play a large part in how these technologies and platforms are developed.”
Fr. Larrey also highlighted the theological groundwork laid by Pope Francis in his final document, Antiqua et Nova, which called for “person-centered AI.” He expects Pope Leo to build on this foundation with his own insights into the Church’s social doctrine — especially the principles championed in Rerum Novarum and its successors, including just wages, solidarity, subsidiarity, and proper care for workers.
Fr. Larrey warned that understanding this “revolution” must be one of Pope Leo’s top priorities, given that figures like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking, and Bill Gates have raised alarms about AI’s existential risks.
These concerns are heightened by the looming prospect of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), the advent of which Fr. Larrey described as “the moment in which large AI platforms are able to perform any conceivable task relating to intelligence at a human level.” Estimates of when AGI might arrive vary, but the pace of development is undeniably rapid.
While some governments are beginning to respond — such as the European Union’s AI Act and the US Congress’ “Take it Down Act” targeting AI-generated deepfakes — Fr. Larrey stressed that these efforts are still only a start.
“More has to be done,” he wrote. “In the absence of a universal consensus concerning the ethical dimensions to AI, the voice of the Catholic Church in general, and that of Leo particularly, will be a rallying call to use technology in a responsible and truly humane way.”
Fr. Larrey concluded that the clarity and speed of Pope Leo’s engagement with AI signals great promise. But he also challenges the faithful to follow the pope’s lead.
“[I]t will fall to the rest of us to follow his lead and help steer digital technology in the right direction,” he wrote, “that which inspires all of humanity and promises to help men and women to flourish as human beings, in relationship with a heavenly Father.”
>> Op-ed: Pope Leo XIV signals concern over technology’s impact on humanity <<
