Pope applauds institute’s attention to AI, warns against entrusting decisions about life to machines

August 29, 2026

Pope Leo XIV praised the International Institute of Administrative Sciences for its reflections on artificial intelligence and warned that “one of the serious problems facing us today is the fact that decisions concerning human life are being entrusted to machines.”

“The theme of your Conference, which has just drawn to a close, issues a powerful appeal to our world today, in the digital age, so that we may maintain a balance in the use of digital technologies,” Pope Leo said during an August 28 audience with members of the Institute. “Today, we cannot fail to face up to this reality, which closely affects our way of life and permeates every level of social life.”

“The speed at which innovations in Artificial Intelligence are developing prompts us to ask whether it will be possible to control these machines in the future, and whether humankind runs the risk of becoming a victim of its own inventions,” the Pope continued. “One of the serious problems facing us today is the fact that decisions concerning human life are being entrusted to machines.”

“Faced with this worrying situation, I applaud your meeting which aims to reaffirm the irreplaceable nature of human intelligence in the face of these technological tools,” the Pontiff added, as he stressed the importance of establishing an “ethical framework to guide the use of these significant tools, which, unfortunately, are concentrated in the hands of major economic and technological players, and which the State struggles to regulate.”

 

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Further information:

• To the Members of the "Institut International des Sciences Administratives" (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 8/28/26)
• Audience with members of the “Institut International des Sciences Administratives” (Holy See Press Office, 8/28/26)