Pope Leo’s encyclical on AI has arrived. He offers wisdom to big tech, governments and you

Since taking office, Pope Leo XIV has made the discussion of AI a priority of his papacy. On Monday, he released his first encyclical titled Magnifica Humanitas (which translates to Magnificent Humanity) – a powerful 42,300-word document calling for regulation of technology and a moral framework that protects humanity for generations to come.

The 70-year-old American pope, a mathematician by training, was elected to the papacy in May 2025 and has made “safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence,” as the encyclical’s subtitle puts it, a central principle of his first year in office.

The publication of the document comes at a time when many are already comparing it to the industrial revolution in terms of its impact on our work and lifestyles. AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, are growing and improving the capabilities of their models at an extraordinary pace, fueling the ongoing debate over whether AI will be more beneficial or more harmful to society.

Amidst all this, Pope Leo identifies AI as “a valuable tool that requires vigilance,” challenging the concentration of power among tech companies and speaking directly to developers there. The document is broad in scope, calling for caution in deploying AI in warfare and the workplace, and it will likely become a foundational text as policymakers and technology companies develop their strategies for developing and regulating the technology in the years to come.

One message from the text that is already attracting attention is Pope Leo’s call to “disarm AI.” While this may sound like a warning against the military use of artificial intelligence, it goes much further.

“To disarm means to discredit the hypothesis according to which technical power automatically confers the right to govern,” the pope writes. “Disarming does not mean rejecting technology, but preventing it from dominating humanity. It means freeing technology from monopolistic control and opening it to discussion and debate, thus making it respectful of man and restoring it to the plurality of human cultures and ways of life.”

What the Pope’s Encyclical Says About Our Use of AI

This encyclical is more than just a message to tech companies and the Catholic Church. Instead, the pope appears to be addressing all of humanity, prioritizing “the equal dignity of all human beings,” “the supreme value of human rights,” and “the construction of a common good.” For Catholics and non-Catholics alike, Magnifica Humanitas presents ideas that people around the world can get behind as AI becomes an ever-increasing presence in our lives.

The Pope warns against allowing those who control AI to dictate and impose the ethical frameworks to govern the technology. Instead, he says, AI ethics should be subject to “shared standards of social justice” and openly discussed among all. “A more moral AI is not enough if that morality is determined by a few,” he writes. In other words, we should all have a say in the role of AI in our world.

He also considers how we should approach our own use of AI. The speed and ease of use of AI tools could be attractive, he says. But they can also “encourage over-reliance and the search for ready-made answers, and weaken personal creativity and judgment.”

AI’s imitation of positive human communication can be engaging and even sometimes useful, he adds. “However, for less discerning users, it can also be misleading, creating the illusion of a relationship with a real personal subject.” This is particularly risky, he adds, when the imitation of care and support occurs in contexts where real human connections are lacking.

“Here the danger is not so much that a person may believe that he is communicating with another person, but rather that he gradually loses the very desire to establish true human relationships,” the pope writes.

Why does the Pope care about AI?

To understand the extent of the Pope’s interest in AI, we must first look at his choice of name. His decision to go through Pope Leo

The current Pope Leo in many ways continues the work of his namesake, according to Brian Boyd, U.S. religious liaison at the Future of Life Institute.

“Leo expands on the tradition of Catholic social teaching by asking how we can, as a society, better serve the common good – recognizing that AI is the most important technology that we have in the last two centuries, perhaps in the last two millennia, for how it is going to affect the way we live together,” Boyd said, speaking to CNET ahead of the encyclical’s release.

Over the past year, the pope has spoken about AI in the context of child protection, what he calls “the sacred nature of the human face and voice” and concerns about workers’ rights, Boyd added. Pope Leo has made a point of directly addressing the tech industry, notably in his encyclical, where he states that developers “bear a special ethical and spiritual responsibility, because every design choice reflects a vision of humanity.”

Sometimes, this position has earned him negative reactions. In November, for example, when the Pope spoke at the Builders AI Forum, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen mocked him publicly — although his use of memes backfired when many, including some in Silicon Valley, agreed that the Pope was right.

“It was fascinating to see not only Catholics, [but] People of good will on all sides are asking, why are you upset that someone is pointing out what should be common sense, but outside of certain niches it’s just completely ignored?’ Boyd said.

The fact that Leo is the first American pope likely also plays a role in how and why he speaks to large U.S.-based tech companies, Boyd added. Although he was born in the United States, he spent many years working for the Catholic Church in Latin America, which gave him an understanding of both the perception of America and the overall outlook of the country.

“That dual perspective really makes him ideal for speaking to people in Silicon Valley and also representing the rest of the world in a way that is deeply needed, because … a lot of these voices are not being listened to, are not being considered,” he said.

The Pope may not have the power of governments to regulate AI companies and hold them accountable in ways that affect their ability to do business and their bottom lines, but that doesn’t mean his soft power should be underestimated. Earlier this month, he created a commission on AI intended to bring together leaders in the name of promoting human flourishing, and the Vatican’s moral authority may well carry significant weight as regulation continues to expand.