by Tablet Staff

PARIS (OSV News) — Pope Leo XIV warned that human dignity is increasingly being judged by efficiency and productivity in the age of artificial intelligence, risking what he called a broader “process of dehumanization.”

Speaking Sept. 25 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris during the first papal visit to the organization in 46 years, the pope said that while machines are now described as “intelligent,” society is struggling to recognize the inherent worth of every human person.

“The paradox has become increasingly evident: while ‘intelligence’ is attributed to computational systems, we struggle to recognize the inalienable dignity of human persons,” he said.

Addressing diplomats, educators, cultural leaders and young people, Pope Leo urged UNESCO to remain a place where humanity reflects on its past and future. Drawing on his encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas,” he said education must help people “be” more, not simply “have” more.

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The pope defined human identity through three realities: being children, being vulnerable and needy, and sharing a common humanity. Forgetting human vulnerability, he warned, can lead to life being treated “not as a gift, but as a commodity.”

He also cautioned that AI can amplify misinformation and cannot answer questions about life’s meaning, insisting that technology must “remain at the service of the human person.”

The pope called for particular care for the unborn, children, migrants, refugees, the elderly, people with disabilities and all those “arrogantly excluded as unproductive.”