Pope Leo warns of AI becoming 'yet another Tower of Babel'
Pope Leo XIV has issued a new encyclical urging global governments to slow the development of artificial intelligence due to its disruptive potential. He emphasized the need for robust legal frameworks and independent oversight to protect the common good. The pope's message draws parallels to the biblical Tower of Babel, warning against the unchecked ambition of technology without moral guidance.
- ▪Pope Leo XIV's encyclical calls for slowing AI development and addressing its disruptive effects.
- ▪He invoked the Tower of Babel to illustrate the risks of unchecked technological ambition.
- ▪Anthropic co-founder Chris Olah supported the pope's call for external scrutiny of AI firms.
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ABC News (Australia) publishes from Australia and files mainly under world. We currently carry 1,394 of its stories.
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| Original publisher | ABC News (Australia) |
| Canonical URL | https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-26/pope-leo-warns-against-ai-issues-apology-for-slavery/106721074 |
| Publication time | Mon, 25 May 2026 20:42:15 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-25T20:57:40.531Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-25T20:57:40.531Z |
| Headline source | Publisher (no WeSearch rewrite) |
| Excerpt source | publisher body |
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| Summary | WeSearch · cerebras-chat (WeSearch summarizer) |
| Summary source text | contentText |
| Citation coverage | Summary is a WeSearch-generated derivative; primary citation is the original publisher URL. |
| Cluster | X3q9ZibT4i8h · 2 stories |
| Cluster logic | Grouped by semantic title/content similarity across sources within a rolling window. Same-publisher template collisions are excluded from coverage comparison. |
| Ranking reason | Story pages are not engagement-ranked. Hub feeds use recency, with optional source-diversified chronological ordering (cap consecutive stories per source). No personalized ranking. |
| Publisher visit | Yes — open original |
| Substitutes article? | No — link-out required for full text |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
Basis: Derived from the published RSS/Atom feed. Contact: [email protected]. Reviewed: 2026-07-24.
Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Pope Leo warns of AI becoming 'yet another Tower of Babel' in encyclicalTopic:ReligionTue 26 May 2026 at 6:42amTue 26 May 2026 at 6:42amTue 26 May 2026 at 6:42amPope Leo XIV presents his first encyclical, focused on the rise of artificial intelligence. (Reuters: Yara Nardi)In short: Pope Leo XIV has urged governments worldwide to slow the development of AI systems and curb their disruptive effects. He was supported by Anthropic co-founder Chris Oah, who said firms like his needed outside scrutiny.What's next? Pope Leo XIV also made a historic apology for the Holy See's role in legitimising slavery abc.net.au/news/pope-leo-warns-against-ai-issues-apology-for-slavery/106721074Link copiedShareShare articlePope Leo XIV has issued a fervent manifesto, urging governments worldwide to slow the…
Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at ABC News (Australia).