Pope Leo XIV opened his first state visit to France with a stark warning that artificial intelligence risks trapping humanity in a “paradise of machines.”
The American-born pontiff, who took office earlier this year, delivered the caution Friday at UNESCO headquarters in Paris after addressing President Emmanuel Macron and government authorities at the Élysée Palace. His four-day trip marks the first official state visit by a pope to France in 18 years, and thousands lined his motorcade route through the capital despite unseasonable heat, waving French and Holy See flags.
Leo tied his AI concerns to broader threats against human dignity, including nuclear proliferation and medical ethics. He told diplomats and United Nations employees that the nuclear deterrence doctrine was “mistaken” because it fuels rather than prevents a new arms race.
“Peace is not a balance of power; rather, it is built day by day through dialogue and justice,” he said.
The pope’s warning on technology carried sharper language. He noted that society now freely attributes “intelligence” to computational systems while struggling to recognize the “inalienable dignity of human persons,” whose lives are judged by efficiency and discarded when no longer productive.
“If we are to avoid losing our humanity amid a ‘paradise of machines’ invading and conditioning our daily lives, there is an urgent need for education in ethical discernment and the capacity to acknowledge the moral good,” he said.
Leo has made AI regulation a signature issue from the start of his pontificate. He dedicated his first encyclical, “Magnificent Humanity,” to demanding robust oversight of the technology and pressing developers to prioritize the common good over profit. He has also urged political leaders and tech companies directly to slow their pace, an appeal he told reporters Friday seemed to be finding receptive ears.
“And I think from their perspective, many of them, they’re very much open to looking for ways of making sure that AI does not displace or ultimately destroy humanity, but rather than be a tool for human beings,” he said.
Macron, who is barred from seeking a third term with seven months left in his presidency, welcomed the visit as something of a capstone. His approval ratings have sunk near record lows amid anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France’s growing debt and deficit.
Smiling as the pope spoke French, Macron told him: “You are here with us for an extended visit, giving us your time, and that is moving,” He added that Leo’s presence brought “a source of hope” to many French people.
The visit carries particular weight given Pope Francis’s repeated refusals to make a proper state visit during his 12-year pontificate. Francis explicitly declined Macron’s invitation to the 2024 reopening of Notre Dame cathedral, though he did make three brief trips to French cities, with Marseille and Corsica in 2024 becoming his final foreign journey.
Leo, by contrast, has emphasized reawakening Europe’s Christian roots rather than traveling to remote Catholic communities. In his Élysée Palace address, he reminded France of its “deep Christian roots” and insisted the right to life is the “indispensable foundation of every other human right.”
That message puts him in direct tension with recent French law. The country enshrined abortion rights in its constitution in 2024, and lawmakers recently approved assisted dying for adults with incurable illnesses. The French Catholic hierarchy strongly opposed both measures, consistent with teaching that human life must be protected from conception until natural death.
Later Friday, Leo became the first pope to celebrate in Notre Dame since the devastating 2019 fire that consumed its roof and toppled its spire. After being mobbed by eager nuns outside, he walked the central aisle to thundering organ music and cheers from the pews. As bells tolled, he knelt in silent prayer at the spot where flames had brought down scorched roof beams six years before.
He marveled at the restored stained-glass windows and cream columns, praising the artisans who repaired them, and urged priests and nuns gathered there to draw inspiration from the collective effort to resurrect the Gothic masterpiece.
The Rev. Aristide Ahidote, who traveled from Ivory Coast to attend the vespers service, offered his own assessment of the new pontiff. “God has given us a pope with vigor and strength,” he said.
Leo will continue his intensive four-day program in France through the weekend.