Pope Leo XIV warns AI could deepen inequality, erase human dignity if left unchecked

In one of the Vatican’s strongest warnings on artificial intelligence (AI) yet, Pope Leo XIV said AI systems could reduce people to mere “data and performance”, worsening inequality and creating a future where human dignity is sacrificed for efficiency and profit.

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In his first major encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV described AI not just as a technology issue, but as a major moral and social challenge for humanity. In the 47-page encyclical released by the Vatican, he said AI must serve human wellbeing and warned against a future where technology shapes economies, politics, jobs and even personal identity without proper ethical oversight.

“Today, however, we find ourselves facing a new situation,” Pope Leo XIV wrote. “The power and prevalence of emerging technologies are interwoven into the fabric of daily life, shaping decision-making processes and deeply affecting the collective imagination.” 

The Pope said the concern is no longer just about innovation itself, but about who controls it and how it is used. 

“Today, however, the main drivers of development are private, often transnational, parties that are endowed with resources and the capacity to intervene that surpass those of many Governments,” he wrote. 

The Pope's comments come at a time when governments and companies worldwide are racing to deploy AI systems across workplaces, healthcare, education, finance and defence.

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The Pope repeatedly warned that workers, families, vulnerable communities and young people could bear the cost of unchecked automation and digital dependency.

“We must avoid the ‘Babel syndrome,’ namely the idolatry of profit that sacrifices the weak,” he wrote, cautioning against a future where a “single digital language” attempts to reduce every aspect of human life into measurable outputs. 

The encyclical also directly addressed growing fears around job displacement caused by automation and AI-led restructuring. Pope Leo XIV argued that work cannot be treated merely as a productivity metric or cost centre.

“Work is not considered simply as a problem to be dealt with or a means of generating income, but a fundamental good for the person,” the encyclical said, while warning that automation should not be judged only through the lens of efficiency. 

The Pope also criticised what he described as a dangerous cultural shift where human worth increasingly depends on productivity, performance and optimisation.

“Persons end up being reduced to a means of achieving results, a resource to be used and exploited,” he wrote. “The value of persons, however, does not depend on what they achieve or produce.” 

While the document warns against the risks of AI, it does not reject technology outright. Instead, the Vatican positioned AI as a tool that can either strengthen society or deepen existing fractures depending on how it is governed.

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“Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice,” the Pope wrote. 

The encyclical also raises concerns about surveillance, manipulation and concentration of digital power. It calls for stronger global cooperation, ethical governance frameworks and protections for democracy and truth in the digital age. 

Perhaps the clearest message of the document is that AI should never replace the emotional, moral and spiritual dimensions of human life.

“In the era of artificial intelligence, when human dignity is threatened by new forms of dehumanization, ours is the pressing duty to remain profoundly human,” Pope Leo wrote.