ROME — Pope Leo XIV on Friday told a Vatican gathering of artificial intelligence researchers and experts that the “most urgent” challenge was to identify international institutions that will put ethical principles guiding AI development into practice.

The American pope, who has made AI a key priority, said the principles are already known but what is missing are the institutions that can effectively safeguard the global common good.

“This calls for shared standards, independent oversight and clear mechanisms of accountability, so that decisions concerning the development and use of AI can be examined, challenged when necessary, and accompanied by appropriate remedies for any harm caused,” he told the meeting.

The gathering was held in the Vatican and co-sponsored by the Pontifical Academy of Life, the Vatican’s bioethics think tank, and the Future of Life Institute. It was a chance for the Vatican’s in-house AI commission to engage with experts in the field.

Leo’s 2026 AI encyclical, “Magnificent Humanity,” called for robust regulation of AI and for its developers to work for the common good rather than profit.

On Friday, Leo highlighted many of the encyclical’s key points — especially on insisting that the future of AI is not predetermined, and that much will depend on the choices developers and political leaders make today.

Additionally, he stressed that machines are tools, not persons and should not be granted legal status or be delegated to make life-or-death decisions. But he said what was “most urgent” among all the challenges facing the AI field was the institutional ethical framework.

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