The Pope warns: Artificial Intelligence threatens human dignity and the moral order.
The Pope—of American-Peruvian origin—warned this week from the Vatican about the deep and structural risks posed by the uncontrolled use of artificial intelligence (AI) to human dignity and the stability of the social fabric.
His remarks came in the context of the Jubilee of Youth, an event that brings together thousands of young Catholics in Rome, called to renew their commitment to faith and truth in a world shaken by technological advances lacking ethical grounding.
“Human beings must not be turned into objects manipulated by algorithms or into soulless statistical figures,” warned the Holy Father, setting a clear doctrinal stance against the expansion of technologies that, without principles or moral regulation, risk depersonalizing social life, undermining legitimate authority, and degrading the transcendent nature of man.
According to recent reports from the Vatican and international applied ethics organizations, more than 65% of digital platforms using AI in educational, labor, and judicial processes lack effective frameworks for human oversight.
Automated decisions—shielded under supposed technical neutrality—are replacing criteria of prudence, justice, and even compassion, which are essential values for harmonious and civilized coexistence.
The Pope was emphatic: “Technical progress must be subordinated to the unrestricted respect for the person, the family, and the common good. Otherwise, it is not progress, but dehumanization.” In this regard, he called on political and social leaders to reaffirm the principles of natural law, institutional order, and ethical responsibility as necessary safeguards against digital chaos.
During his message, the Pontiff also criticized the use of AI to impose relativistic ideologies, distort objective truth, and manipulate collective consciousness, especially among the youth. “Technology can serve good or evil. What is at stake is not a technical issue, but the soul of our civilization,” he stated.
The Jubilee of Youth, held under the theme “We Walk with Faith in Truth,” served as the backdrop for a deep reflection on the role of youth in a digitalized world that often marginalizes permanent values and glorifies immediacy, self-indulgence, and the break with tradition.
The Pope’s words—American-Peruvian, yet with universal authority—are not merely symbolic: they are a direct warning to the forces currently promoting, from radicalized ideological strongholds, a model of society without God, without family, and without objective morality.
The contemporary left, with its blind devotion to soulless technological advancement and its contempt for tradition, has been an active accomplice in this progressive degradation of the natural order. Meanwhile, the Church—firm in its millennia-old doctrine—reminds us once again that technology without virtue is a tool of enslavement, and that every truly human policy begins with the defense of what is eternal: life, family, truth, and the common good.
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