Pope Leo XIV used his first major teaching document to connect the rapid spread of artificial intelligence with questions of human dignity, labor and power, describing AI as “a new test” for the modern world. In the encyclical, he also linked contemporary concerns about technology to a long history of exploitation and responsibility, and he included an apology for the Vatican’s earlier role in legitimizing slavery.

The document is addressed to Catholic followers and frames AI as a defining power struggle of the era. NPR reported that the pope places artificial intelligence at the center of the encyclical’s message and presents it as part of a broader moral and institutional challenge.

In one of the encyclical’s key passages, Pope Leo XIV said, “Artificial intelligence needs to be disarmed.” He added that the “word is strong,” but that it was “deliberately chosen” because “this moment needs words capable of attracting attention, awakening consciences and indicating paths forward for humanity,” NPR reported in an excerpt from the pope’s remarks.

NPR described the encyclical as echoing Pope Leo XIII’s earlier teaching on the Industrial Revolution, which focused on exploitation and power dynamics created by new economic systems. In the more recent document, Pope Leo XIV warned against what NPR said are new forms of exploitation connected to digital technologies, including the control of data and the burdens borne by workers.

NPR’s report also said the encyclical warns about labor and child exploitation tied to mineral extraction used for digital technology. Father Michael Baggot, described by NPR as an AI expert, told listeners that “It’s easy to forget the sort of invisible labor behind these AI systems that give some of us productivity advantages while others bear the burdens of terrifying forms of labor.”

The encyclical’s ethics message extends beyond AI. NPR reported that in what it described as a historic first, Pope Leo XIV apologized for slavery and said the church’s failure to condemn it for centuries remains “a wound in Christian memory.” The pope’s apology was presented alongside calls for stronger laws and additional safeguards intended to prevent exploitation and reduce the concentration of control.

NPR reported that the encyclical urges independent oversight and “more public control” over artificial intelligence. It also said Pope Leo XIV argued that “life-and-death decisions” in battlefield settings “can’t be handed over to algorithms,” setting a boundary between human judgment and automated systems for decisions with severe consequences.

NPR also noted that Pope Leo XIV’s background includes training as a mathematician, and it cited remarks from Matthew Harvey Sanders, founder of the Catholic AI platform Magisterium, about how the pope understands the technology and its limits. Sanders said, “Part of it, I think, he’s just an American,” and that the pope has “been a user of technology,” while also having experience “on the peripheries,” where technology availability can be constrained.

At the Vatican’s launch of the encyclical, NPR reported that Anthropic co-founder Christopher Olah attended, underscoring that the Catholic Church intends the message to be heard by people who build AI systems. For NPR News, Megan Williams reported from Rome.

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