(Nature) – The papal letter goes beyond a religious document and diagnoses a failure in AI governance that the scientific community should heed.

On 15 May, Pope Leo XIV signed his first encyclical letter, titled Magnifica humanitas (‘magnificent humanity’ in Latin). In it, he chose to warn society about artificial intelligence.

The encyclical — an official format once used to address Roman Catholic bishops but now intended as a moral statement for all — is a diagnosis of who governs AI and on whose behalf (see go.nature.com/3qxctvc). Leo XIV maps the unprecedented ways in which AI is concentrating power. He raises concerns that a handful of private actors are making crucial decisions about the values encoded in systems used by billions of people without democratic mandate and beyond national regulatory frameworks. (Read More)