Pope Leo warned against the loss of humanity in a “paradise of machines” as he addressed global concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence at the start of a three-day visit to France. “If we want to avoid losing our humanity in the midst of a paradise of machines that invade and condition our daily lives, there is an urgent need to educate people in ethical discernment, capable of seeing what is morally correct,” he said in a speech at the Elysée. In a second speech on Friday, the 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church insisted that new technologies must “remain at the service of the human person rather than becoming another instrument of domination and injustice” in remarks before a meeting at the Paris headquarters of the United Nations culture and education body, UNESCO. “All science runs the risk of losing its true meaning when practiced unethically,” he said. “Certain artificial systems have even been named after our human faculty of thought: intelligence. However, at the same time, our ideas and relationships risk being impoverished by a process of dehumanization.” law, without naming natural persons. “Instead of respecting the law, those in power invoke it when it serves their interests and ignore it when it restricts them, even treating justice itself as if it were a commodity that can be bought and sold,” he said. Leo, who became pope in 2025, has criticized the direction of global leadership in recent months. Last April he said the world was “being devastated by a handful of tyrants.” Pope Leo with French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte Macron, at the Elysée. Photograph: Maurizio Brambatti/AP The first official papal visit to France in 18 years comes as Emmanuel Macron’s decade in office comes to an end ahead of next spring’s French presidential election, for which far-right, anti-immigration Marine Le Pen is doing well in polls. Pope Francis did not make a full state visit to France during his 12-year pontificate and refused to join the inauguration of the rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral in 2024. After France passed legislation in June giving some adult patients the right to assisted dying, the pontiff said he was concerned about trends “that risk turning science and technology into for-profit enterprises that promote genetic manipulation, surrogacy, the trade of human organs or the possibility of organizing one’s own death.” The three-day visit will consist of a gigantic open-air Mass on Saturday, led by the pontiff in the Place de la Concorde. The pope, whose paternal grandmother was born in France, on Friday urged Paris to remain a “tireless champion of peace” around the world. He will deliver a speech on European peace in the eastern city of Metz on Monday as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine continues into its fifth year. Leo called on the world not to become indifferent to the pain caused by “the scourge of war.” He told Macron and other French politicians: “I urge you… to never resign yourself to the prospect of war or consider it ‘inevitable’.” Leo will also visit Lourdes, a pilgrimage site for Christians from around the world, where he will meet privately with seven victims of clerical sexual abuse. After some survivor groups suggested that a larger number of survivors should have been canvassed, the Catholic Church said the pontiff was seeking deep dialogue with people. France’s Catholic bishops’ conference agreed to provide compensation after a 2021 report estimated that 330,000 children were sexually abused over 70 years by priests or other church-related figures in France. The report describes a “systemic” cover-up by church officials. In recent years, new accusations have emerged, including against workers at the elite Catholic boarding school Notre-Dame de Bétharram, near Lourdes. On his flight to Paris, Pope Leo told journalists they could cover him, as he responded to the Trump administration’s attempt to ban American media from the White House and affirmed the importance of journalists covering public figures. When asked by a CNN reporter about Donald Trump’s attempt to separate CNN and other reporters, Leo said the media was welcome on his plane. “I am very happy that everyone is welcome here,” he said.
