Pope Leo says AI risk concerns not ‘fake news’

Pope Leo has said that concerns about artificial intelligence going rogue are not “fake news” and should be taken seriously, insisting that safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on.

Leo, who dedicated his first encyclical to AI and protecting humanity in its wake, was asked during a news conference on Monday about what the United States and China especially should be doing to prevent AI from posing catastrophic risks to humanity.

US President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax”.

The first US pope, who has warned of the dangers of AI throughout his 16-month papacy, also directly criticised technology CEOs who argued there should be no guardrails on the technology.

“I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously,” the pontiff said in the news conference on his flight back to Rome after a four-day trip to France.

“I don’t think that that is fake news, as some have said.”

The pope said he had read on Monday that the head of chipmaker Nvidia had announced there could be a way to insert guardrails into certain AI models.

But Leo expressed scepticism, adding: “He’s the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation.”

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang told CBS News this month that he agreed with Trump that safety concerns about AI were overblown.

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.

Leo identified AI as one of the biggest challenges to humanity within days of his election and took the unusual step of personally launching his own encyclical alongside Anthropic’s cofounder Christopher Olah at a Vatican event in May.

The initiative was part of the Vatican’s effort to engage Silicon Valley about the human costs of AI.

“We need to continue to invite political leaders, leaders of AI, social organisations, associations to come together and look at what is happening already and what could be down the road,” the pontiff said on Monday.

Leo urged the world “to promote dialogue, study, investigation, to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point where it could destroy humanity”.

“I think that there are enough people seriously interested in that… but we have to keep working,” said the pope.

“We can’t just sit back and pretend nothing’s going to happen.”