Pope Leo XIV frames AI priority

Pope Leo XIV used a May 14 visit to Rome’s La Sapienza University to put artificial intelligence at the center of his early papacy. In a speech to students and professors, Leo warned that AI-guided warfare and rising military spending were pushing conflicts toward what he called a “spiral of annihilation.” He also told students they were “not algorithms,” linking the church’s concern about technology to questions of human dignity and education. The visit included a meeting with Palestinian students evacuated from Gaza who had just arrived in Rome to continue their studies. ### Why did this university speech matter? La Sapienza is Europe’s largest university, and Leo’s appearance there was his first visit to the campus as pope. Vatican schedules published before the event showed a tightly staged pastoral visit on May 14, with stops at the university chapel, the rectorate and the Aula Magna before a final greeting on the main staircase. (pbs.org) AP reported that the visit was the first by a pope to the campus since a planned 2008 address by Pope Benedict XVI was canceled after protests from faculty and students. That history gave Leo’s appearance added weight as he addressed a secular public university on war, education and technology. ### What exactly did Leo say about artificial intelligence? (press.vatican.va) Leo’s address at the Aula Magna warned that artificial intelligence could not be treated as a neutral technical issue when it is used in war. AP’s account of the speech said he called for closer monitoring of how AI is developed and deployed in both military and civilian settings so that humans are not stripped of responsibility for their choices. (pbs.org) The sharpest line came when Leo cited current conflicts. “What is happening in Ukraine, in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, and in Iran illustrates the inhuman evolution of the relationship between war and new technologies in a spiral of annihilation,” he said, according to AP and PBS. Vatican News, summarizing the same visit, said Leo also warned against rising military spending and urged young people to become “artisans of true peace.” The Vatican’s published text of the speech shows he framed the university as a place where critical thought should resist resignation and defend the value of the human person. (pbs.org) ### Where does “not algorithms” fit into his message? (pbs.org) National Catholic Reporter, which covered the event, said Leo told students they were “not an algorithm.” That line fit with a broader theme visible across recent Vatican messages in which Leo has argued that technology must serve the human person rather than replace or diminish human dignity. (vaticannews.va) Vatican News has shown the same emphasis in other interventions. In January, it reported that Leo said technological innovation, particularly AI, must remain at the service of the person; in March, it reported a papal message urging the development of algorithms that “humanize” the digital sphere. ### Was this a one-off speech, or part of a bigger Vatican project? (ncronline.org) Leo has been signaling for months that AI is a major priority. A Vatican message dated June 17, 2025, to a Rome conference on artificial intelligence, ethics and corporate governance said AI raises questions that touch human dignity, labor, justice and security. AP reported on May 14 that these are themes Leo is expected to treat more fully in his first encyclical, due in the coming weeks. (vaticannews.va) That would make AI one of the first major policy and moral topics to receive full treatment in a programmatic papal document under Leo’s pontificate. ### Who were the Gaza students he met? Palestinian students from Gaza were among the most visible participants in the visit. (vatican.va) AP and PBS reported that some had arrived in Italy that week through a “humanitarian corridor” that allows them to continue their studies at Sapienza. Vatican News said Leo praised an agreement between the Diocese of Rome and Sapienza to open a university humanitarian corridor from Gaza. (pbs.org) AP reported that the Italian government, working with Catholic organizations, has brought hundreds of Palestinians to Italy for study and medical care since the war between Israel and Hamas began in 2023. ### What comes next? (pbs.org) The Vatican has already published Leo’s full May 14 Sapienza address and the official program of the visit on its website. AP reported that Leo’s first encyclical is expected in the coming weeks, and that document is the next place to look for a fuller statement of how he wants the church to address artificial intelligence, war and human dignity. (vatican.va) (vaticannews.va)