Pope Leo XIV sees AI as main challenge for humanity, explains link to his name

Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy on Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue with some of the core priorities of Pope Francis.

The former cardinal Robert Prevost referred to AI in explaining his choice of the name “Leo”, as he presided over his first formal audience – with the cardinals who elected him.

His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pontiff from 1878 to 1903, and was famously interested in workers’ rights and the impact of capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age.

In his remarks on Saturday, Leo said he identified with his predecessor.

“In our own day, the church offers everyone the treasury of its 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 labour,” he said.

Toward the end of his pontificate, Leo XIV’s predecessor Francis became increasingly vocal about the threats to humanity posed by AI and called for an international treaty to regulate it.