Pope Leo XIV has issued a direct warning about the risks of artificial intelligence applied to armed conflicts. During his visit to La Sapienza University in Rome, the pontiff stated that delegating life-or-death decisions to machines leads to a spiral of annihilation without human control. He also denounced that the increase in military spending in Europe comes at the expense of cuts in education and healthcare, benefiting elites who ignore the common good.
Technical control and human responsibility in the age of AI 🤖
The Pope called for a more rigorous regulatory framework for the development of AI, both in military and civilian uses. He emphasized that the automation of lethal systems must not exempt humans from their moral responsibility. In the civilian sphere, he warned about algorithms making decisions without supervision, from hiring to medical diagnoses. The key, according to the pontiff, is to keep the human being at the center of the process, preventing technology from worsening conflicts or deepening inequalities.
AI doesn't ask permission to bomb, but it does to update 💥
While world leaders debate whether a drone should ask for authorization to fire, software manufacturers are already planning the next update with extra charges. The Pope suggests putting a brake on military AI, though perhaps what we need is a panic button that works when the machine decides that peace is not profitable. For now, the only artificial intelligence that seems unstoppable is the one that bills missiles with a credit card.