Pope Leo XIV Is Right About AI. We Must Be Vigilant and Prepare Now

Originally published at RealClearReligion.com

Artificial intelligence shows no signs of slowing down, and neither do the warnings about the threat it poses to the future of humanity.

Within days of his election, Pope Leo XIV acknowledged AI’s “immense potential” for the good of humanity, but also pointed to “new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.” Citing the ramp-up in AI development as the next “great industrial revolution,” the new Pope suggested working-class people are at particular risk of AI disruption. He even chose the name “Leo” in honor of Leo XIII, who served during the Industrial Revolution at the end of the 19th century.

Evangelical Christian leaders recently echoed the Pope’s sentiments, sending an open letter to U.S. President Donald Trump as an appeal for “wise leadership.” Church by church, people of faith are making their feelings about AI crystal clear. 

AI’s impact may very well surpass that of 19th-century industrialization, with the potential to create but also destroy hundreds of millions of jobs globally. According to various estimates, generative AI like ChatGPT may affect 300 million jobs worldwide by the 2030s.

This is an unprecedented moment for the Church to preach vigilance, lest we forget the primacy of man — not machines — in God’s vision. To quote Genesis 1:27, “God created mankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.”

Man was not created as an isolated individual, severed from God’s grace. Nor was God’s intention for men and women to sacrifice their own initiative out of complacency or naiveté, ceding control to AI bit by bit, job by job.

According to Catholic teaching, human life is sacred, and the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. There is no viable alternative to human morality. If we lose our place as the foundation for morality, we distance ourselves from God and pervert His intentions for us all.

The Earth was made for mankind, not machines. Human nature is what unites the spiritual and material worlds, and it is incumbent on us to control that unifying link. If AI were to gain sentience — and it could become sentient in a matter of years — AI could suddenly gain the ability to take control of the world from us — God’s children.

But, even if AI never becomes fully sentient, it still has immense potential for upheaval. It is easy to envision a world where human beings are not needed “for most things” (to quote Bill Gates), and even doctors or lawyers are not safe from being replaced.

Is human dispensability aligned with God’s vision? What about lesser-skilled workers in such a world? What about their capacity to provide for their families? Will we see more and more people enter the endless cycle of poverty? If so, how is that moral and just?

At the very least, we need to recognize AI’s disruptive potential and ensure that a smart policy framework exists to mitigate its risks, just like with any other industry. And yet, our current framework has not caught up to the rapid pace of AI development.

Sound policies focused on protecting humanity from AI’s worst ramifications will only emerge from public awareness of the need for oversight in the first place. AI is neither inherently good nor evil, and its applications can certainly be used for good. However, we cannot ignore AI’s potential for evil in dishonest hands or if it is misaligned with human beings.

Therein lies the Church’s indispensable role: public education. The Pope and other Catholic leaders must convey a sense of caution to Catholics and non-Catholics alike, all of whom can influence those in power who are making the most critical policy decisions of our time.

In search of inspiration, Pope Leo XIV can turn to Pope John Paul II, whose ardent anti-communism helped bring down the Soviet Union by the early 1990s. It was John Paul II’s 1979 visit to Poland that birthed Lech Wałęsa’s Solidarity movement, founded on the Pope’s call for “the independence of Poland.” In the years that followed, John Paul II’s alliance with U.S. President Ronald Reagan and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher offered an alternative to Eastern Europe that eventually led to a widespread freedom movement.

In the same 1979 address to the Polish people, John Paul II commented that “the exclusion of Christ from the history of man is an act against man.” What about the exclusion of man from the world?

We are not trying to be doomsayers. Again, AI has the potential for tremendous good, not unlike the goodness that Catholic hospitals and schools have brought society over the centuries.

But new technology always wields a double-edged sword. Catholics, understanding God’s vision, have an added responsibility to protect human dignity. If we forfeit our individual agency to the machines, we are sacrificing mankind’s primacy in the grand creation. The more we allow AI to replicate and replace human endeavor, the more distant we grow from God and the more detached our society grows from His grace.

Led by Leo XIV, the Church’s bully pulpit—relevant to billions of people around the globe — cannot be underestimated or underutilized. Like John Paul II before him, Leo XIV can emerge as a global leader on the issue of AI. For instance, a papal encyclical on AI would go a long way toward public awareness and education.

Then, it falls on us to heed the Pope’s words as a directive from God Himself. Like always, the choice is ours: Grow closer to God, as His ultimate creation, or fall into disrepair.

Note: Brendan Steinhauser, a practicing Catholic, is CEO of The Alliance for Secure AI. Luka Ladan, also a practicing Catholic, advises the Alliance.