Pope Leo XIV warns: AI could affect young people’s intellectual development

Pope Leo XIV, who holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, has repeatedly warned of the risks associated with AI since he was elected head of the Catholic Church on May 8, but this was his first public comment on the issue alone.

In a written warning to participants in the second Rome Conference on Artificial Intelligence, the American pontiff warned: “We all… worry about children and young people and the possible consequences of the use of AI for their intellectual and neurological development.”

He pointed out: “No generation in the past has had such rapid access to information through AI as it does now.”

But I emphasize again that access to information, no matter how vast, cannot be confused with intelligence,” Leo told business leaders, policymakers and researchers attending the annual meeting.

While the pope welcomes the use of AI “in the areas of improving health care and scientific knowledge,” he also spoke of concerns about its possible impact on humans’ “unique ability to grasp and process reality.”