Vatican City: Pope Leo XIV has urged public administration experts to ensure that advances in artificial intelligence and other digital technologies remain focused on the good of humanity rather than private interests.
Pope appealed on Friday at the Vatican while addressing members of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences, of which the Holy See is a member.
“We must ensure that the good of the human family is not sacrificed to private interests,” Pope Leo said.
He encouraged the institute’s members to continue researching how public administration can help make digital technologies more human centred and ensure that they serve life and peace.
Pope Leo warned that the rapid development of artificial intelligence is raising serious questions about humanity’s ability to control the machines it creates.
He asked whether humanity could eventually become a victim of its own inventions, particularly as digital technologies increasingly influence different areas of social life.
“One of the serious problems today,” he said, is that decisions concerning human life are being entrusted to machines.
Pope welcomed the efforts of the institute’s conference to reaffirm the importance of human intelligence as technology develops. He urged its members to help public authorities make decisions about digital technologies in ways that serve the good of humanity.
He also called for an ethical framework to guide the use of these technologies. He noted that digital tools are increasingly concentrated in the hands of major economic and technology actors, while states face difficulties in exercising control over them.
Pope linked the discussion to the theme of this year’s conference, which called for a proper balance in the use of digital technologies in the digital age. He also connected the issue with his encyclical Magnifica humanitas, which addresses the protection of the human person in the age of artificial intelligence.
The International Institute of Administrative Sciences was founded in 1930, in the aftermath of the Great Depression, to help public authorities respond to changing social needs.
Pope Leo acknowledged that the task facing those working in this field is difficult and that discouragement can sometimes arise. He encouraged them to continue their work with determination and assured them of his prayers.