Archbishop Ettore Balestrero speaks

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the UN in Geneva, emphasized human dignity in AI applications for agrifood systems at a UN event on October 5, 2026.

“In an age where technology has extended life expectancy, has spread globally, and has opened new frontiers for development, to allow millions to die of hunger is simply a collective failure, an ethical aberration, a historical shame”

Event organized by FAO and Holy See

The conference on human-centered AI for agrifood systems was held in Geneva on October 5, 2026, co-organized by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and the Holy See's Permanent Mission.

Hunger statistics cited

Archbishop Balestrero referenced Pope Leo XIV's 2025 visit to FAO, noting 673 million people worldwide go to bed without eating and 2.3 billion cannot afford a nutritionally adequate diet.

AI benefits for small farmers

AI tools can help small farmers access agronomic knowledge, markets, and early warnings, offering transformative potential for productivity, resilience, and sustainability.

Human dignity must guide AI

Archbishop Balestrero stressed that AI in agrifood systems must prioritize God-given human dignity and integral development, as outlined in Pope Leo's encyclical 'Magnifica Humanitas'.

“technology is never neutral”

Ethical governance needed

The international community must establish ethical AI governance and regulatory tools to uphold justice and prevent misuse in agrifood systems.

AI must serve humanity

Placing humans at the core of AI policy ensures innovation serves humanity, not reducing people to data points or datasets.

“If a farmer is reduced merely to a data point, or a rural community considered simply as a dataset, then we must ask whether progress is truly achieved”