Pope Leo XIV warns of AI risks in new encyclical

In May 2026 Pope Leo XIV issued his first encyclical, *Magnifica Humanitas*, marking the 135th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII’s *Rerum Novarum*. The document cautions that artificial intelligence is “a form of statistical adaptation based on data and feedback, which does not imply inner growth,” warning that AI could become a spiritual monolith akin to a modern Tower of Babel. The Pope urges believers and especially Catholic homeschooling families to “use AI in such a way that if it disappeared tomorrow, you would still know how to think, how to create, how to act on your own, how to form authentic friendships.”

The encyclical also critiques what the Pope calls “AI messianism,” the belief that a future singularity or artificial general intelligence will serve as a new messiah, potentially eclipsing human dignity and religious pluralism. By framing AI as a technology with quasi‑religious promises, Leo XIV stresses the need for critical engagement that preserves human reasoning and moral formation.