The Vatican called for constant oversight of artificial intelligence on Tuesday, warning about the potential for “the shadow of evil” in the technology, which it said offered “a source of tremendous opportunities but also profound risks.”
In a new document meant to advise the Catholic faithful, the church warned that the technology should be used to complement human intelligence, “rather than replace its richness.” The document was approved by Pope Francis, who has repeatedly warned that the application of artificial intelligence should be grounded in ethical and moral considerations.
“In all areas where humans are called to make decisions, the shadow of evil also looms here,” the Vatican said in the paper. It added, “The moral evaluation of this technology will need to take into account how it is directed and used.”
The paper “is a synthesis of a lot of the existing materials that have been developing organically over the last while,” drawing on Francis’ past statements and writings to look at A.I.’s effect on relationships, education, warfare and work, said the Rev. Paul Tighe, one of the people who worked on it. The paper was written over six months by a Vatican team in consultation with various experts, including those in A.I.
The paper tries to map out “an understanding of what it is to be human that in a sense gives shape to the ethical concerns,” said Father Tighe, who is the spokesman for the Vatican department of culture and education.
The paper warned of A.I.’s potential to destroy the trust on which societies are built because of its potential to spread misinformation. “A.I.-generated fake media can gradually undermine the foundations of society,” the document said. “This issue requires careful regulation, as misinformation — especially through A.I.-controlled or -influenced media — can spread unintentionally, fueling political polarization and social unrest.
“Such widespread deception is no trivial matter; it strikes at the core of humanity, dismantling the foundational trust on which societies are built.”
It decried the “harmful sense of isolation” that A.I. could generate, as well as “specific challenges” for children, “potentially encouraging them to develop patterns of interaction that treat human relationships in a transactional manner, as one would relate to a chatbot.”
The document cited concerns that A.I. could be used to advance what the pope has described as the “technocratic paradigm,” a belief that the world’s problems could be solved through technological means alone. “Technological developments that do not improve life for everyone, but instead create or worsen inequalities and conflicts, cannot be called true progress,” the document stated, citing Francis’ 2024 World Day of Peace message.
When it comes to work, the document said, “the goal should not be that technological progress increasingly replaces human work, for this would be detrimental to humanity.” It should also never “reduce workers to mere ‘cogs in a machine,’” as the “dignity of laborers and the importance of employment for the economic well-being of individuals, families and societies, for job security and just wages, ought to be a high priority for the international community” as A.I. spreads.
The paper also repeated concerns about using the technology in remote-controlled weapons that result in “a lessened perception of the devastation” from their use and “an even more cold and detached approach to the immense tragedy of war.”
The paper warned about “the concentration of the power over mainstream A.I. applications in the hands of a few powerful companies.” Those companies could exercise “forms of control as subtle as they are invasive, creating mechanisms for the manipulation of consciences and of the democratic process,” the document stated, citing a 2019 document by Francis.
Francis has increasingly raised concerns about A.I. In an address to political, economic and business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, last week, Francis wrote that A.I. raised “great concerns about its impact on the role of humanity.” And at a Group of 7 meeting in Italy last year, Francis told world leaders that A.I. “represents a true cognitive-industrial revolution, which will contribute to the creation of a new social system characterized by complex epochal transformations.”
This month, the Vatican released a document with guidelines for the use of A.I. inside its own walls, regulating its application.
