Pope creates Vatican AI study group

Pope Leo XIV has put artificial intelligence at the center of his first major teaching document and created a Vatican study group to support that work, according to reports published on May 16 and Vatican officials cited by the Associated Press. The encyclical is expected in the coming weeks and will argue for an ethics-based approach to AI that gives priority to human dignity, social relationships and peace. (apnews.com) Vatican officials said Leo signed the document on Friday, 135 years after Pope Leo XIII signed *Rerum Novarum*, the 1891 encyclical that became a foundation of modern Catholic social teaching. (nprillinois.org) The move comes two days after Leo used a visit to Rome’s Sapienza University to sharpen his warnings about AI in warfare. (vaticannews.va) In that May 14 speech, he said investment in artificial intelligence and advanced weapons was feeding a “spiral of annihilation” visible in Ukraine, Gaza and the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Iran. He also called for tighter monitoring of how AI is developed and used in both military and civilian settings so that it does not remove human responsibility for decisions. ### Why is the Vatican treating AI like a social-teaching issue? Pope Leo XIV has framed AI as a problem that touches labor, justice and peace, not only technology policy. (apnews.com) Vatican officials told AP that the new encyclical is expected to place AI inside the church’s body of social teaching, the same tradition shaped by *Rerum Novarum*. Leo has already linked the AI era to the Industrial Revolution, arguing that both raise basic questions about work, human dignity and the obligations societies owe people. The May 16 timing also carried symbolism. Vatican officials said Leo signed the encyclical on the anniversary of Leo XIII’s 1891 document, underscoring the continuity the current pope wants to draw between industrial-era Catholic teaching and the digital age. (nprillinois.org) ### What exactly did Leo say about AI and war? At Sapienza on May 14, Leo said rising military spending — especially in Europe — was coming at the expense of education and health care while enriching elites “who care nothing for the common good.” He then tied that warning directly to AI, saying the technology must be monitored so it does not deepen conflict or blur accountability for lethal choices. (usnews.com) His sharpest line was the phrase “spiral of annihilation.” AP’s account of the speech said Leo used it while citing current wars in Ukraine, Gaza and the Palestinian territories, Lebanon and Iran. That language fits a broader Vatican concern that autonomous or AI-assisted systems could distance human decision-makers from the consequences of war. (usnews.com) ### What is the Vatican’s record on AI before this encyclical? The Vatican has been building an AI file for several years. A Vatican News report on Leo’s 2026 World Day of Social Communications message said he warned about preserving human dignity in a digital environment shaped by artificial intelligence, including concerns about chatbot “friends,” synthetic media and deepfakes. (nprillinois.org) AP also reported that Leo raised AI just days after his 2025 election, telling cardinals that the church should offer its social teaching to confront questions of dignity, justice and labor. Leo has also returned to the subject in other Vatican-linked events. Vatican materials from 2025 show him addressing conferences on AI, ethics and corporate governance, and on AI’s effects on critical thinking, discernment and relationships. (nprillinois.org) ### Why does the France trip matter in this context? The Vatican paired the AI push with a diplomatic step on May 16, announcing that Leo will travel to France from Sept. 25 to 28. Vatican News said the trip will include Paris and a stop at UNESCO, the U.N. cultural agency, marking the first papal visit to France on an official state trip since Benedict XVI went to Paris and Lourdes in 2008. (vaticannews.va) France also has an active role in international AI debates, and UNESCO has been one of the multilateral bodies working on AI governance. The Vatican announcement did not spell out an AI agenda for the visit, but the sequencing places Leo’s expected encyclical and his UNESCO stop on the same calendar. (vatican.va) That is an inference from the timing of the two announcements, not a stated Vatican position. ### What comes next from Rome? The Vatican said the encyclical is expected to be released in the coming weeks, after Leo signed it on May 15. Vatican News separately said Leo’s France trip is set for Sept. 25-28, with UNESCO on the itinerary. Those two milestones — publication of the encyclical and the September visit — are the next concrete markers in how the Holy See presents its AI agenda. (vaticannews.va) (usnews.com)