Pope Leo: Ensure AI Is Developed and Utilised for the Common Good

Vatican, July 11, 2025: In a message sent on 10 July to participants of the United Nations’ AI for Good Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, Pope Leo XIV urged nations to create regulatory frameworks for artificial intelligence that serve the common good. The message, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, stressed the need for ethical clarity and coordinated governance that respects the inherent dignity and fundamental freedoms of every human being.

“I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to seek ethical clarity and to establish a coordinated local and global governance of AI, based on the shared recognition of the inherent dignity and fundamental freedoms of the human person,” the message stated.

Organised by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and co-hosted by the Swiss government, the summit brings together governments, tech leaders, academics, and professionals working with AI.

In this “era of profound innovation”, where many are reflecting on “what it means to be human”, the Pope remarked that the world “is at crossroads, facing the immense potential generated by the digital revolution driven by Artificial Intelligence”.

“As AI becomes capable of adapting autonomously to many situations by making purely technical algorithmic choices, it is crucial to consider its anthropological and ethical implications, the values at stake and the duties and regulatory frameworks required to uphold those values,” the Pope highlighted.

He noted that responsibility lies primarily with developers, managers, and overseers of AI systems, but that users also share in this duty. The technology “requires proper ethical management and regulatory frameworks centred on the human person, and which goes beyond the mere criteria of utility or efficiency”.

Quoting St Augustine’s concept of the “tranquillity of order”, Pope Leo underlined that AI should contribute to a “more human order of social relations” and help build “peaceful and just societies in the service of integral human development and the good of the human family”.

While AI can rapidly simulate human reasoning and impact areas such as “education, work, art, healthcare, governance, the military, and communication”, the Pope warned that “it cannot replicate moral discernment or the ability to form genuine relationships”.

The development of this technology, he said, “must go hand in hand with respect for human and social values, the capacity to judge with a clear conscience, and growth in human responsibility”. He called for “discernment to ensure that AI is developed and utilised for the common good, building bridges of dialogue and fostering fraternity”. AI, he concluded, must serve “the interests of humanity as a whole”.

Courtesy: Vatican News