AI for Good Summit 2025: July 10, 2025

Cardinal Parolin gave the following address on behalf of Pope Leo XIV for the AI for Good Summit 2025. The text of the remarks are below.

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Cardinal Parolin on behalf of Leo XIV on AI

On behalf of His Holiness, Pope Leo XIV, I would like to extend my cordial greetings to all participants in the AI for Good Summit 2025, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in partnership with other UN agencies and co-hosted by the Swiss Government. As this summit coincides with the 160^th anniversary of the ITU’s foundation, I would like to congratulate all the Members and staff for their work and constant efforts to foster global cooperation in order to bring the benefits of communication technologies to the people across the globe. Connecting the human family through telegraph, radio, telephone, digital and space communications presents challenges, particularly in rural and low-income areas, where approximately 2.6 billion persons still lack access to communication technologies.

Humanity is at a crossroads, facing the immense potential generated by the digital revolution driven by Artificial Intelligence. The impact of this revolution is far-reaching, transforming areas such as education, work, art, healthcare, governance, the military, and communication. This epochal transformation requires responsibility and discernment to ensure that AI is developed and utilized for the common good, building bridges of dialogue and fostering fraternity, and ensuring it serves the interests of humanity as a whole.

As AI becomes capable of adapting autonomously to many situations by making purely technical algorithmic choices, it is crucial to consider its anthropological and ethical implications, the values at stake and the duties and regulatory frameworks required to uphold those values. In fact, while AI can simulate aspects of human reasoning and perform specific tasks with incredible speed and efficiency, it cannot replicate moral discernment or the ability to form genuine relationships. Therefore, the development of such technological advancements must go hand in hand with respect for human and social values, the capacity to judge with a clear conscience, and growth in human responsibility. It is no coincidence that this era of profound innovation has prompted many to reflect on what it means to be human, and on humanity’s role in the world.

Although responsibility for the ethical use of AI systems begins with those who develop, manage and oversee them, those who use them also share in this responsibility. AI therefore requires proper ethical management and regulatory frameworks centered on the human person, and which goes beyond the mere criteria of utility or efficiency. Ultimately, we must never lose sight of the common goal of contributing to that “tranquillitas ordinis – the tranquility of order”, as Saint Augustine called it (De Civitate Dei) and fostering a more humane order of social relations, and peaceful and just societies in the service of integral human development and the good of the human family.

On behalf of Pope Leo XIV, I would like to take this opportunity to encourage you to seekethical clarity and to establish a coordinated local and global governance of AI, based on the shared recognition of the inherent dignity and fundamental freedoms of the human person. The Holy Father willingly assures you of his prayers in your efforts towards the common good.

Card. Pietro Parolin
Secretary of State of His Holiness

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