ROME, Sept 29 (Bernama-dpa) -- Pope Leo XIV has called for a broad dialogue with tech companies, politicians, and civil society to respond to growing fears regarding artificial intelligence (AI), dismissing critics who have called such concerns "fake news," German Press Agency (dpa) reported.
"The concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously," the pope said on his flight back to Rome on Monday after a multi-day trip to France.
"I don't think that that is fake news, as some have said," Leo added, a likely reference to United States (US) President Donald Trump, who has dismissed such warnings as a "hoax."
"To simply say, 'Oh, it's not gonna happen' and close our eyes to it, I think is probably not the most responsible way to go about that," the pontiff said.
Earlier this year, Leo published an encyclical – a doctrinal document of the Catholic Church – on the opportunities and risks of AI, which attracted considerable international attention.
When asked on board his plane on Monday whether he shared the concerns about AI destroying humanity, the pope replied: "Am I in panic mode? No, I'm not. I sleep at night."
The head of the Catholic Church pointed out that the Vatican has already set up its own commission on the subject of AI, which he said aims "to continue to promote dialogue, study, investigation, to find ways to make sure that AI does not get to a point where it could destroy humanity or remove humanity from the conversation."
He said he was "relatively optimistic" that that could happen.
-- BERNAMA-dpa