Pope Francis raises alarm about AI

BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy Pope Francis made a historic appearance at the Group of Seven summit on Friday to speak about the pros and cons of artificial intelligence, while G7 leaders also pledged to tackle what they said were harmful business practices by China.

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Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the summit host, invited the pope and other heads of state and government, including the prime minister of India and the king of Jordan, in an effort to show the G7 was not an aloof, exclusive club.

"We will never accept the narrative that wants the 'West against the rest'," Meloni told the meeting on Friday.

The pope, arriving in a wheelchair and warmly greeted by leaders including US President Joe Biden and a fellow Argentine, President Javier Milei, acknowledged the ambivalence surrounding AI, saying it could inspire excitement and broaden access to knowledge.

"Yet at the same time, it could bring with it a greater injustice between advanced and developing nations or between dominant and oppressed social classes," the 87-year-old said.

Pope Francis challenged leaders of the world's wealthy democracies to keep human dignity foremost in developing and using artificial intelligence, warning that such powerful technology risks turning human relations themselves into mere algorithms.