In his message, Pope Francis calls for limiting human power over nature, particularly over AI.

CV NEWS FEED // In a message titled “Hope and Act with Creation,” Pope Francis encourages Catholics to limit human power over nature, particularly artificial intelligence.

The document, released by the Vatican press office on June 27, is the pope’s official message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, which will be celebrated worldwide on September 1, 2024.

In the text, the Holy Father emphasizes man’s role in protecting creation, affirming that obedience to the Holy Spirit changes the way man interacts with creation: “from ‘predators,’ we become “cultivators” of the garden.” Enlightened by the Holy Spirit, man must work in cooperation with nature, because any attempt to dominate and manipulate it “represents a form of idolatry”.

Pope Francis warns of the consequences of unchecked power and the way it “creates monsters”, citing artificial intelligence as an example: “it is urgent to set ethical limits to the development of artificial intelligence, because its calculation and simulation capacity could be undermined. used to dominate humanity and nature, instead of being put at the service of peace and integral development.

This is not the first time the Pope has called for caution when it comes to artificial intelligence. According to Vatican News, last Saturday the Pope addressed members of the international convention “Generative Artificial Intelligence and the Technocratic Paradigm,” organized by the Vatican. Centesimus Annus Pro Pontifice organized.

After thanking the participants for their work, he reminded them that AI “must remain a tool” for humans, and not an autonomous agent.

The Holy Father told participants that the fundamental question regarding artificial intelligence must be whether it serves the well-being of humanity or whether it poses a danger to humanity while benefiting and empowering “a few technical giants.”

In the audience, he even questioned the use of the word “intelligence” to describe AI. He said that calling something artificial intelligence, when intelligence is fundamentally human, should make us wonder “whether the misuse of that word…is not already a capitulation to technocratic power.