The Pope Has Warned About The Dangers Of AI. The UN Secretary General Now Wants Rules For ‘Killer Robots’

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for increased regulation of AI, saying “we may be the last generation able to set the terms on which humanity and machines coexist.”

In a social media publication, Guterres said that if “AI is to be trusted, those who build it must be accountable.”

“If AI is to be global, it must be fair. And if AI is to serve the future, it must not consume the future,” he added.

Speaking at the UN Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva, Guterres called for access for developing countries and for data centers to be powered by renewable energy.

He went on to say that even though AI “sits at the heart of our common future”, it has to be one where “machines can inform, but humans must decide, and answer.”

Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Special Envoy for Digital and Emerging Technologies, said that “AI is too consequential to be shaped by a few. We need a conversation that is global, inclusive and grounded in evidence.”

Other global leaders have also called for similar measures. Pope Leo XIV called earlier this year for political action to protect workers, children, and citizens while cautioning against leaving control of AI data and systems solely in private hands.

“What is needed is a more active political involvement that is capable of slowing things down when everything is accelerating,” Leo wrote.

In the encyclical, the pope called for stronger regulation of AI and urged developers and political leaders to place human dignity above profit as the technology transforms the world. Leo framed the document as part of the Catholic Church’s long social justice tradition, drawing a direct line to Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 text on workers’ rights during the Industrial Revolution.

“The pursuit of greater profits cannot justify choices that systematically sacrifice jobs, because the human person is an end, not a means, and the economic order must remain subordinate to human dignity and the common good,” Leo wrote.

The document also raised alarms about autonomous weapons, saying lethal or irreversible decisions should not be entrusted to artificial systems. Leo wrote that “moral judgment cannot be reduced to calculation, for it involves conscience, personal responsibility and the recognition of the other as a person.”

The pope also warned that the transition itself can damage lives and communities if employment becomes available only to a smaller share of people. “Work remains a fundamental dimension of the human experience, for not only is it a means of sustenance, but it is also a context for expression, relationships, and contributing to the community,” Leo wrote.