Pope Leo XIV brings not peace but a sword to AI oligarchs and a slop-mad world in new address, says it's 'Turning people into passive consumers of unthought thoughts'

Pope Leo XIV—who's become a remarkably familiar presence in the pages of PC Gamer of late—has once again taken to the pulpit to exhort us to be careful about this "AI" nonsense. In a message for the 60th World Day of Social Communications (which is actually on May 17), the Bishop of Rome implored humanity to take better care of its face and voice in our era of AI-driven deviltry.

"Faces and voices are sacred," wrote the Pope. "God, who created us in his image and likeness, gave them to us when he called us to life through the Word he addressed to us." That is to say: our father in heaven would very much like you to take care of that gift, and not to confuse the faces and voices of humans with the ersatz faces and voices of LLMs and other tech baubles.

"If we fail in this task of preservation, digital technology threatens to alter radically some of the fundamental pillars of human civilization that at times are taken for granted."

What does he mean by that? Well, mostly that the relationship methadone that is artificial intelligence risks alienating us more from one another than we already are. "By simulating human voices and faces, wisdom and knowledge, consciousness and responsibility, empathy and friendship, the systems known as artificial intelligence not only interfere with information ecosystems, but also encroach upon the deepest level of communication, that of human relationships."

Whatever qualms with the Catholic Church one may have (and there are many possible qualms indeed), he's hit the nail on the head, there. It sometimes feels like we get a new story about desperate, lonely people being driven to new heights of delusion by AI every week.

The Vicar of Christ does not, however, stop there. Now that you've got him talking, he's not so keen on what AI does to art and human creativity, either. "In recent years, artificial intelligence systems have increasingly taken control of the production of texts, music and videos," says the Pope. "This puts much of the human creative industry at risk of being dismantled and replaced with the label 'Powered by AI,' turning people into passive consumers of unthought thoughts and anonymous products without ownership or love.

"Meanwhile, the masterpieces of human genius in the fields of music, art and literature are being reduced to mere training grounds for machines."

Give this man a PC Gamer column immediately. Again, his issue with AI-generated art is that it removes the human (and thereby the divine, about which the Pope is somewhat preoccupied) from human interaction. Playing an AI game? Watching an AI movie? You're not engaging with another human mind, face, or voice through the medium of art, you're wrapping your lips around the end of a long and dirty hose, and sucking.

Finally, the Pope expresses concern about the way in which AI can create entire alternate realities for users that generate polarisation and hostility: "The power of simulation is such that AI can even deceive us by fabricating parallel 'realities,' usurping our faces and voices. We are immersed in a world of multidimensionality where it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish reality from fiction."

Rather a grim prognosis to come ex cathedra, but fear not: Pope Leo pitches a solution. "The task laid before us is not to stop digital innovation, but rather to guide it and to be aware of its ambivalent nature. It is up to each of us to raise our voice in defense of human persons, so that we can truly assimilate these tools as allies. This alliance is possible, but needs to be based on three pillars: responsibility, cooperation and education."

In other words, AI oligarchs, developers, and legislators need to take responsibility for creating social good and not just profit. Meanwhile, everyone must work together to create "informed and responsible digital citizenship." And finally, "it is increasingly urgent to introduce media, information and AI literacy into education systems at all levels," to minimise the risk of people like you and me running afoul of out-of-control technology.

Well, that would take a miracle.