Science and Technology

In 2023, world leaders and tech executives gathered in England for the AI Safety Summit, which was the first global conference on artificial intelligence. Two years later, the group reconvened in Paris under a different title: the AI Action Summit. Gone was the emphasis on safety. Lest there be any doubt, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance told the room: “The AI future is not going to be won by hand-wringing about safety.”

The Trump administration’s cavalier stance on AI, as outlined by Vance in Paris, has largely been defined by its hands-off, deregulatory approach meant to accelerate development. In the global AI race, the United States is effectively the Wild West. Just last week, President Donald Trump’s reversed course and rejected his own administration’s plans to enact a new AI vetting protocol

In 2023, world leaders and tech executives gathered in England for the AI Safety Summit, which was the first global conference on artificial intelligence. Two years later, the group reconvened in Paris under a different title: the AI Action Summit. Gone was the emphasis on safety. Lest there be any doubt, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance told the room: “The AI future is not going to be won by hand-wringing about safety.”

The Trump administration’s cavalier stance on AI, as outlined by Vance in Paris, has largely been defined by its hands-off, deregulatory approach meant to accelerate development. In the global AI race, the United States is effectively the Wild West. Just last week, President Donald Trump’s reversed course and rejected his own administration’s plans to enact a new AI vetting protocol

Now, however, the administration’s AI policy is meeting its most serious challenger: the first American pope. In a letter released on May 25, Pope Leo XIV asked the world to commit to safeguarding the human person amid rapid AI development—even if it means tapping the brakes.

“Calling for prudence, rigorous evaluation and even, at times, a slower pace in adopting AI does not mean opposing progress; instead, it is an exercise of responsible care for the human family,” Leo wrote. “This need is all the more urgent given the frequent imbalance between the speed of technological growth and the slower development of awareness, norms, safeguards and institutions capable of governing its effects.”

The text, called Magnifica Humanitas, arrives........

© Foreign Policy