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Pope Leo opened a three-day visit to France with a stark warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence, cautioning that society risks losing its sense of humanity amid what he described as a “paradise of machines” reshaping everyday life.

Speaking at the Élysée Palace, the pope said there is an urgent need for people to be educated in ethical discernment so they remain capable of recognizing what is morally right, warning that failing to do so could mean surrendering something essential about human identity as machines increasingly influence daily life.

According to the Guardian, the 71-year-old pontiff delivered a second address later that day at the Paris headquarters of Unesco, the United Nations’ culture and education agency, where he pressed the point further. He argued that new technologies must remain tools that serve people, rather than becoming instruments of domination or injustice.

Concerns Over Dehumanization

Leo told the Unesco gathering that science loses its proper purpose when it’s pursued without ethical grounding. He noted that some artificial systems have been given the name of humanity’s own capacity for thought, calling it intelligence, even as human relationships and ideas risk being diminished through a broader process of dehumanization.

He went further, saying that while computational systems are increasingly credited with intelligence, society is struggling to uphold the inherent dignity of human beings, whose worth is too often measured by efficiency and discarded once they’re viewed as no longer productive.

A Broader Critique of Global Leadership

Beyond artificial intelligence, Leo also took aim at world leaders who he suggested treat the rule of law selectively, invoking it when convenient and ignoring it when it stands in their way, while turning justice itself into something akin to a commodity. He did not name any specific leaders in these remarks.

This isn’t the first time Leo, who became pope in 2025, has spoken critically about the state of global leadership. He said in April that the world was being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, a comment that reflected a broader pattern of the pontiff weighing in on political affairs during his relatively short time leading the Catholic Church.

The Political Backdrop in France

Leo’s trip marks the first official papal visit to France in 18 years. It comes at a politically significant moment, as President Emmanuel Macron’s decade in office nears its end ahead of next spring’s presidential election, a race in which hard-right, anti-immigration candidate Marine Le Pen is currently polling strongly.

The visit also stands in contrast to the approach taken by Leo’s predecessor. Pope Francis never made a full state visit to France during his 12 year papacy and chose not to attend the reopening ceremony for the newly rebuilt Notre Dame Cathedral in 2024.

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