Pope Leo XIV warns AI could undermine humanity during France visit

By AFP and AP. Published On 25 Sep 202625 Sep 2026.

Key points

• The Vatican estimated that regarding 300, 000 residents had come out to see the pontiff on Friday.
• Thousands of worshippers cheered Leo on Friday as he stepped up to pray and called those gathered at a stadium near Paris the "saints of France".
• The pope's four-day trip marks the first official papal visit to France in 18 years.
• He reaffirmed the Vatican's opposition to nuclear weapons, stating that the nuclear deterrence doctrine was "mistaken" as it was heightening a new arms race.
• It he referred to as a "paradise of machines", and other emerging technologies could undermine humanity by posing fundamental questions concerning what it means to be human.

Pope Leo XIV has cautioned that artificial intelligence. It he referred to as a "paradise of machines", and other emerging technologies could undermine humanity by posing fundamental questions concerning what it means to be human.

Thousands gathered to welcome the pope in France on Friday, shortly after he raised existential questions regarding technological advancement and human rights during his opening speech to President Emmanuel Macron and authorities at the Elysee Palace and then to diplomats and United Nations employees at the headquarters of UNESCO, the UN culture and education organisation.

"If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment, " Pope Leo remarked beside Macron.

Scientific progress should not turn "into profit-driven ventures promoting genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade in human organs or the possibility of arranging one's own death", the pope remarked, a few months after France passed a landmark bill legalising assisted dying.

For context, the pope identified AI as one of the greatest challenges at present facing humanity since the highly beginning of his pontificate, dedicating his first encyclical to the topic to call for significant regulation and for developers to work for the common good.

"The paradox has become increasingly evident: while 'intelligence' is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognise the inalienable dignity of human persons, whose lives are judged according to the criterion of efficiency and, when deemed no longer productive, are rejected and discarded, " he remarked.

In practice, the pope had earlier remarked to journalists that he was pleased that his message was being heard by AI developers and hoped the dialogue would continue between tech businesses and the Vatican.

"And I think from their perspective, many of them, they're very much open to looking for ways of making sure that AI does not displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather is a tool for human beings, " he remarked.

Notably, the pope's four-day trip marks the first official papal visit to France in 18 years. While secularism is enshrined in the country's constitution, the pontiff stressed that "authentic secularity" should not exclude religion "from the public sphere or from education".

Thousands of worshippers cheered Leo on Friday as he stepped up to pray and called those gathered at a stadium near Paris the "saints of France". Earlier in the afternoon, the pope crossed central Paris in his popemobile.

For context, the Vatican estimated that regarding 300, 000 residents had come out to see the pontiff on Friday.

For now, pope Leo XIV warns AI could undermine humanity during France visit remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.