Pope Decries The Rise Of AI-directed Warfare, Saying It Leads To A ‘Spiral Of Annihilation’
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV On Thursday, during a visit to Europe’s largest university, he called for peace in the Middle East and Ukraine, while denouncing how investments in artificial intelligence and high-tech weapons were dragging the world into a “spiral of destruction.”
Leo’s speech at La Sapienza University in Rome marked the first time a pope has visited the campus since Pope Benedict XVI canceled a scheduled address there in 2008 in the face of protests from faculty and students.
The American pope received a warm welcome Thursday; Among them were some of Sapienza’s newest students: young Palestinians who arrived in Italy via a “humanitarian corridor” from Gaza this week to continue their studies at the university. Working with Catholic organizations, the Italian government brought hundreds of Palestinians to Italy to receive education and medical care. Israel’s war against Hamas It started in Gaza in 2023.
Leo met some of the Gaza students during a brief greeting in the campus chapel and after a speech in the main lecture hall of the university, founded by Pope Boniface VIII in 1303.
In his speech, Leo denounced how dramatically military spending has increased this year: especially in EuropeAt the expense of education and health, it “enriches elites who do not care about the common good.”
He called for better monitoring of how AI is doing developed and used in the military field and civilian contexts “thus not absolving people of responsibility for their own choices and exacerbating the tragedy of conflict.”
“What is happening in Ukraine, Gaza, the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Iran shows the inhumane evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies into a spiral of extinction,” he said.
The pope said education and research must move in the opposite direction, valuing life “the lives of peoples crying out for peace and justice.”
Leo defined artificial intelligence as either: The most critical issues facing humanityespecially its applications in war and daily life. These are themes he is expected to explore more fully in his first circular, which will be published in the coming weeks.
Nada Rahim Jouda, 19, was one of the Gazans who met Leo just two days after his arrival in Italy. He was still amazed at his new life studying business administration in Rome, which he said was “like heaven for me.”
“It’s not all green and gray here; there are problems everywhere and miserable people on the streets,” he said.
But Jouda is still worried about the family he left behind: his mother, who is being treated for leukemia, and his sisters, ages 17 and 13. During the war in Gaza, the family had to move four times and her mother was unable to receive care and control due to cancer.
“They all trust me. I’m the only hope they have,” he said.
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