By Maya Yang
Publication Date: 2026-05-30 11:00:00
IIn his first major papal text since taking over the leadership of the Catholic Church last year, Pope Leo this week issued a stark warning about the rise of artificial intelligence and denounced the “culture of power” that is driving the AI age.
The first American-born pope called for the “strictest” ethical restrictions on AI – which he described as one of the greatest threats to humanity today – and also warned of “new forms of slavery” emerging from the digital economy.
Speaking to the Guardian, readers in the US shared the pope’s concerns, describing AI as an “unregulated” industry that is increasingly being used to “harm too many people” while raising fears about surveillance, labor displacement, war and environmental damage.
For Linda Given, a 74-year-old resident of Boston, Massachusetts, who ran a small gift shop in Cambridge for nearly 40 years, the pope’s warning resonated.
“I think he is right when he emphasizes human dignity and warns…
