# Pope warns the world against losing humanity to AI

> Pope Leo XIV cautions that artificial intelligence poses a threat to human dignity, comparing it to historical exploitation as he begins a four-day visit to France.
- Title: Pope warns the world against losing humanity to AI · BBC News
- Summary: Pope Leo XIV cautions that artificial intelligence poses a threat to human dignity, comparing it to historical exploitation as he begins a four-day visit to…
- Keywords: pope leo xiv, artificial intelligence, france, paris, emmanuel macron, vatican, catholic church, human dignity, news, world, Pope, warns
- Source: BBC News — https://bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cmq8j904212po
- Published: 2026-09-24T23:17:00.942+00:00
- Read time: 2 min
- Topics: pope leo xiv, artificial intelligence, france, paris, emmanuel macron, vatican, catholic church, human dignity, news, world
## Pope warns of AI dangers in Paris
Pope Leo XIV cautioned against losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines during talks with President Emmanuel Macron at the Élysée Palace on the first day of his four day visit to France.

> losing our humanity amid a paradise of machines
## Leo called for AI to be disarmed
In May, Pope Leo issued a major teaching document warning that artificial intelligence needed to be disarmed, comparing the risks to the slave trade and suggesting the world was normalising exploitation.
## Half a million expected at Paris Mass
The centrepiece of Leo's visit is a giant Mass on Saturday at the Place de la Concorde, expected to draw more than half a million people, with a large area around the Champs-Élysées sealed off by police.
## Macron hails visit as great honour
President Emmanuel Macron greeted Pope Leo at Orly airport on Friday and hailed the visit as a great honour, stressing that French secularism in no way negates religion.

> in no way negates religion
## Pope says secularism should include religion
Pope Leo responded that authentic secularity should not exclude religion from the public sphere or from education, addressing France's long history of invoking secularism to justify bans on religious symbols.
## Political candidates attend Champs-Élysées Mass
The Mass will be attended by President Macron's wife Brigitte, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, and several presidential candidates including Marine Le Pen, Edouard Philippe, Gabriel Attal and Bruno Retailleau.
## Pope declines Notre-Dame artisans meeting
Pope Leo turned down Macron's proposal to meet artisans who rebuilt the fire-devastated Notre-Dame cathedral because his schedule was too tight, according to Élysée officials.
## Pope to honour EU founding father Schuman
On Monday in Metz, Pope Leo will pay tribute to Robert Schuman, a founding father of the European Union and fervent Catholic born in eighteen eighty six who died in nineteen sixty three and is a candidate for beatification.
## Pope to meet abuse victims and migrants
During his visit, Pope Leo will meet a group of migrants in Paris and in Lourdes some victims of sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy, continuing his engagement with vulnerable communities.
## French Catholicism shows signs of revival
France has secularised dramatically, with regular worshippers falling from thirty five percent in nineteen sixty to less than five percent today and priests shrinking from twenty five thousand in nineteen ninety to fewer than nine thousand, yet adult baptisms more than doubled in five years to ten thousand in twenty twenty five.
## Key takeaway

Pope Leo XIV warned against losing humanity to AI machines during his visit to France, drawing parallels to the slave trade to highlight risks of normalising exploitation.