Pope Leo Says AI’s Promise Could Mask a New Colonialism

Pope Leo Says AI’s Promise Could Mask a New Colonialism
Pope Leo XIV is trying to pull artificial intelligence out of the realm of efficiency claims and into a harder political argument: who holds power, who becomes dependent, and who pays the price.

Speaking Friday in Rome to the International Catholic Legislators Network, Leo urged lawmakers to put people ahead of technological momentum. His central warning was global: rapid AI development could leave poorer countries ever more reliant on wealthy nations that control the systems, infrastructure and data. “We must remain vigilant in this regard, lest innovation become another vehicle for ideological or economic colonialism.”

The pope’s concern was not confined to relations between nations. He said algorithmic systems already exert power closer to home, through decisions about visibility, public debate and work. “Sadly, we are presented with a subtle form of domination when algorithms decide who is seen, who remains invisible,” he said, warning as well of platforms shaping discourse without accountability and workers’ dignity being subordinated to optimization.

Leo then widened the argument to family life, cautioning that AI must not reduce human relationships to “data and simulations” or make family life economically precarious. He called instead for policies supporting parents, marriage and young people’s confidence in the future.

The address continues a campaign that has made AI a defining early concern of his papacy, following his May intervention on technology’s effects on labor, democracy and the environment. It also lands against a sharply different policy current in Washington: President Donald Trump repealed the Biden administration’s AI executive order in January 2025, as his administration pursued a more deregulatory approach.

AI advocates argue the technology can automate routine work and accelerate tasks. Leo’s intervention does not deny innovation’s force; it challenges the assumption that speed is neutral. He called for “robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility.”

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