Source: Human Rights Watch

Pope Leo XIV released his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas,” presented at the Synod Hall in the Vatican on May 25, 2026, calling for safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence and warning about the threat posed by “killer robots.” The encyclical states that the decision to use lethal force cannot be delegated to opaque or automated processes and must remain under effective, self-aware, and responsible human control. It urges that responsibility be clearly defined at every stage—from designers and developers to users who rely on these systems—to ensure development and use of AI in warfare are subject to rigorous ethical constraints that guarantee respect for human dignity and the sanctity of life.

The piece notes continuity with previous papal concerns, references a 2023 interfaith statement by Christian, Buddhist, and Muslim groups calling for united action against killer robots, and cites the Stop Killer Robots campaign co-founded by Human Rights Watch in 2013 advocating for a treaty to prohibit or regulate autonomous weapons systems. It reports that states will meet at the United Nations in June to discuss military uses of AI and again in Geneva in November to consider formal treaty negotiations, and that to date 130 states have expressed support for a legally binding instrument prohibiting or regulating such weapons; undecided states are urged to take immediate regulatory steps.