Pope Leo issues grim warning over AI technology as he says it's leading world into 'spiral of annihilation'
Artificial intelligence might be taking over the world, yet Pope Leo XIV remains standing as one of its biggest detractors, issuing numerous warnings that preach about the emergent technology's dangers.
Not everyone is on board with the AI revolution as while many of the industry's leading figures have claimed that the tech will change the world for the better, others have continued to point out its flaws and negative impacts.
One of the biggest talking points right now is the impact that AI is already having and will continue to have on the job market, as some experts have predicted a world where all but a handful of roles will be made redundant.
This will pave the way to an irreversible wealth gap between the richest and poorest according to one expert, which will no doubt be made worse by an increasingly inhospitable planet due to the environmental impact that increased usage of the technology will cause.
Advert
Pope Leo, who was elected as the head of the Catholic Church last May, has used several of his public addresses to warn against the use of AI and its threats to the future of humanity, and a recent speech saw it become the target again in a frightening prediction.
As reported by NPR, Pope Leo's speech at La Sapienza University addressed many of the issues he believes the world is currently facing, decrying warfare, high-tech weaponry, and artificial intelligence.
He hit out at dramatically increased military spending across the world in the last year, noting that it has come at the expense of investment in healthcare and education in addition to "enriching elites who care nothing for the common good."
Identifying AI as a 'critical matter' impacting humanity right now, Pope Leo specifically highlighted the need for increased monitoring of the relationship between the technology and the military, alongside its use alongside civilians.
He believes that this is important "so that it does not absolve humans of responsibility for their choices and does not exacerbate the tragedy of conflicts," adding that ongoing attacks against Ukraine, Gaza and the Palestinian territories, Lebanon, and Iran "illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technology in a spiral of annihilation."
This will only likely increase the anger that U.S. President Donald Trump has towards the current Pope, as the former has already used AI to generate several images indicating that he believes himself a step above the Catholic Church, perhaps on the level of Jesus Christ himself.