Pope Leo XIV urges institutions to enforce ethical AI standards

Pope Leo XIV called for international institutions to enforce ethical standards for artificial intelligence, saying human beings must remain responsible for consequential decisions and for harm caused by AI systems. Addressing AI researchers and experts at a Vatican gathering on Friday, October 30, Leo described machines as tools, not persons, and argued that responsibility for their actions should remain with their human creators. He warned that granting AI systems legal personhood or rights could obscure who is accountable and leave people harmed by their use without a clear party to answer for it. Leo said the most urgent challenge for the field was establishing institutions capable of putting ethical principles into practice. He called for shared standards, independent oversight and accountability mechanisms, including ways to examine and challenge decisions about AI development and use and provide remedies when harm occurs. The pope said decisions affecting human life, freedom or the use of force must remain under effective, informed and responsible human oversight. He also repeated his call for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons. In remarks reported from the address, he...