Pope Leo XIV Warns of ’Corruption of Culture’ in the Age of AI
The Holy Father said AI 'cannot answer questions that concern the meaning of human life, which is rooted in lived experience.'
6 days ago
Pope Leo XIV warned that artificial intelligence and other communication technologies can distort culture and obscure human dignity, arguing that computational systems cannot answer questions about the meaning of human life. Speaking at UNESCO in Paris, he called for truth, dialogue, peace, and protection of vulnerable people. 1
In a speech delivered in French and English on Sept. 25, the first day of a Sept. 25–28 visit to France, Leo asked what it means to be human. He said the question remains unsettled and lies at the heart of every culture, form of knowledge, art, and religion. 1
The pope said modern communication can spread false information and words emptied of meaning, obstructing rather than encouraging dialogue. AI amplifies this problem, he said: systems may correlate data, but cannot address questions about life’s meaning, which is rooted in lived experience. 1
Leo compared the confusion and domination associated with the Tower of Babel—a biblical image he has previously applied to AI—with the peace and unity of Pentecost. He described the latter as a response to cultural corruption, grounded in a message of peace and hope. 1
Leo cautioned that science reduced to a tool of power can degrade rather than elevate people. He also pointed to a contradiction in attributing “intelligence” to computational systems while judging human lives by efficiency and discarding people considered unproductive. 1
He named children in the womb and in war zones, people with physical or intellectual disabilities, older people, migrants, refugees, and others excluded as unproductive among those whose care tests society’s commitment to human dignity. He said their protection is connected to the protection of creation. 1
Leo addressed UNESCO as a pastor seeking dialogue and said the Holy See regards the organization as a partner in serving the common good and human development. He praised its work toward a just world and emphasized that truth matters because, without it, language can become subject to violence and power. 1
During his visit to UNESCO headquarters, Leo toured its library and diplomatic archives, received a copy of a 1949 “Book of Peace Memorandum,” and watered an olive tree as a sign of nurturing peace. 1
Technology’s role in serving human dignity and culture
Technology serves human dignity and culture when it remains a means for human flourishing—not a measure of human worth or an authority over human life. Catholic teaching therefore neither rejects technological progress nor treats every new capability as good simply because it is possible. It asks whether technology serves the whole person and the common good.
Every person has a value that cannot be reduced to data, productivity, social status, or predicted behavior. Pope Francis accordingly says that respect for the inherent dignity of every person must be the key criterion for evaluating emerging technologies. Algorithms may assist human judgment, but decisions about people should not be handed over uncritically to systems that can reproduce bias or deny someone the possibility of growth and change.
This principle applies beyond artificial intelligence. Technology is ethically sound insofar as it supports human dignity throughout life. In biotechnology, for example, the ability to manipulate human life raises moral questions that cannot be settled by technical feasibility alone. Benedict XVI warns against a culture that treats technological power over life as permission to decide which lives deserve respect.
Culture is not simply the accumulation of inventions or information. It concerns how people understand and live their humanity—in relation to truth, goodness, beauty, freedom, one another, and God. John Paul II cautioned that scientific and technological progress can outpace humanistic formation, leaving society more capable without becoming more fully humane.
For that reason, science needs conversation with philosophy, theology, the arts, literature, and the wisdom of religious and local traditions. These fields help illuminate questions that technical expertise alone cannot answer, including what human beings are for and what counts as genuine progress.
Technology should benefit humanity broadly, not merely those who own it or can afford access to it. The Church’s principle of the universal destination of goods applies also to knowledge and technological benefits; decisions about research and investment should not be dictated solely by markets or the interests of a few.
This is also a concern of justice. Digital technologies can deepen inequality—not only in wealth, but in access to social and political influence. A responsible approach should therefore ask who benefits, who bears the risks, whose voices shape decisions, and whether innovation advances social inclusion and solidarity.
A Catholic assessment of a technology can begin with four questions:
The Church recognizes that communication technologies can create opportunities for encounter and solidarity, but insists that they should guide people toward truth, service, closeness to the disadvantaged, and the common good.
The central Catholic judgment is therefore not “technology is good” or “technology is bad.” Technology is a human responsibility. It contributes to a humane culture when ethical wisdom guides technical power, when people remain more important than systems and things, and when progress serves the dignity and good of all.