Pope Leo shares troubling warning about AI creating paradise of machines

PARIS — Pope Leo XIV warned Friday that a “paradise of machines” risked undermining humanity as he opened a trip to France by posing fundamental questions about what it means to be human in the age of artificial intelligence, a nuclear arms race and other threats to life itself.Leo raised existential concerns about scientific progress, life and human rights during his opening speech to President Emmanuel Macron and authorities at the Élysée Palace and then to diplomats and United Nations employees at the headquarters of UNESCO, the U.N.culture and education organization.With wars plaguing Europe and the Middle East, he reaffirmed the Vatican’s opposition to nuclear weapons and said the nuclear deterrence doctrine was “mistaken” since it was just fueling a new arms race.“Peace is not a balance of power; rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice,” he said.Leo has an intense four days in France, where the Catholic Church has lost ground in influencing ethical issues given the strict approach to secularism that is enshrined in the French Constitution.Yet thousands of people lined his motorcade route, waving French and Holy See flags, with some braving hours of the unseasonable heat to catch a glimpse of him.

The turnout underscored the surprising level of interest in Leo’s visit, the first official state visit by a pope in 18 years.Macron said Leo’s visit brings “a source of hope” to many French people.For Macron, who is barred from seeking a third term in May elections, hosting the American pope is something of a capstone.Pope Francis had refused repeatedly to make a proper state visit to France during his 12-year pontificate and pointedly refused to join the inauguration of the rebuilt Notre Dame cathedral in 2024.“For a president of the republic as Macron, who is at the end of his mandate, it can be important to be aside the pope and to capture a part of his popularity,” said Charles Mercier, director of history and s...