Pope says concerns about AI 'should be taken seriously'

Pope Leo XIV on Monday (Sep 28) warned that concerns about artificial intelligence "should be taken seriously" but added he was not in "panic mode".

In wide-ranging comments, the pope also said parts of the Catholic Church had sometimes been "abusive" but said he would not call sex abuse "systemic" in the Church.

"If someone were to ask me, am I in panic mode? No, I'm not. I sleep at night," he told reporters at a press conference on the plane returning from his visit to France, referring to concerns about AI.

He also defended his opposition to assisted dying, saying it was not intended to be a political position but a moral one.

Asked if he had crossed the line between church and state during his visit with his comments on assisted dying, he said: "I did not cross it".

France's parliament this year passed a law allowing assisted dying in certain cases.

The leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics was returning to the Vatican after a four-day trip where he was greeted by crowds.

The visit comes seven months before French voters choose a successor to President Emmanuel Macron, with the eurosceptic, anti-immigration far-right seeking power.

"SIT DOWN AND TALK"

During his visit, the US pontiff repeatedly warned about the need to safeguard humanity against AI.

"If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment," he said.

The debate over the risks of the technology has intensified in recent months, fuelled by several incidents and apocalyptic warnings from industry professionals.

On the plane on Monday, the pope said the warnings were not "fake news, as some have said, to try and cause whether financial or some other kind of benefit".

"This is a problem that I think we need to sit down and talk about," he said, adding: "To simply say 'Oh, it's not going to happen' and close our eyes to it, I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that."

The Vatican has in recent months stepped up its rhetoric and initiatives in support of international AI governance, particularly in the fields of nuclear technology, culture and artistic creation.

"DEEPLY WOUNDED"

The visit was particularly closely watched for the relatively new pope's comments on the wave of abuse scandals that has swept the Catholic Church.

After a meeting with abuse victims in France, the pope said several of them had spoken to him "about systemic abuse in the Church".

"Personally, I prefer to express it in a different way, although I did speak about some organisations within the church who have at times, if you will, as a system, been abusive."

The pope said that abuse within the Church also meant that "people's lives of faith are deeply wounded and sometimes even destroyed.

"So there's a particular responsibility of the church to walk with them and to help them seek healing," he said.

Asked about his stance on assisted dying, the pope said that the Church was "not entering into politics".

He said the Church wanted to be close to people "in the midst of sickness or disability or pain" and "to affirm the values that life itself I think holds for all of us".

"So I would say if that's politics, I did that, but it was not to get involved in French politics," he said.