VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV on Saturday stressed the risks of generative artificial intelligence, how it could usurp human identities and relationships, influence public opinion and deepen social polarisation.

In a message marking the World Day of Social Communications, the pope said AI systems reflect the worldview of their creators and can shape patterns of thought by reproducing biases embedded in the data they process. “The challenge... is a matter of protecting human identity and authentic relationships,” the pontiff said.

Leo XIV’s warning comes as generative AI makes leaps and bounds towards replicating, altering and manufacturing images, music and text to levels sometimes indistinguishable from human-made works.

In 2023, Leo’s predecessor, pope Francis, was the subject of a viral fake AI image of him wearing a white puffer jacket.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026