Pope Leo makes Time’s most influential list for AI

In its list, published on August 28, the magazine praised the Pontiff’s focus on the ethical concerns related to the emerging technology.

Time listed the top 100 influential people in artificial intelligence (AI) in four categories: Leaders, Innovators, Shapers and Thinkers. Leo XIV is among the 25 most influential thinkers in the field, the article stated.

Time’s technology correspondent Andrew Chow noted that Leo XIV chose his papal name, in part, based on the need for the Church to address ethical matters related to AI. Mr Chow wrote that the Holy Father is “already making good on his vow”.

When the Pontiff met with the College of Cardinals two days after he assumed the papacy, he said he took the name in honour of Pope Leo XIII, who had “addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution”.

Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878 until 1903, published the encyclical Rerum Novarum, which discussed the needs of the working class amid the industrial revolution. The text eschewed both socialism and unrestrained market power, opting for cooperation between competing interests that is centred on the dignity of the human person.

The current pope, Leo XIV, said he took the name because of the “developments in the field of artificial intelligence”, which he noted pose “new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour”.

Time’s profile noted that the Vatican hosted the Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Corporate Governance in June, and stated: “Leo XIV’s keynote speech underlined AI’s potential as a force for good, particularly in health care and scientific discovery.”

“But AI ‘raises troubling questions on its possible repercussions on humanity’s openness to truth and beauty, on our distinctive ability to grasp and process reality,’ he added,” the profile stated, quoting the Holy Father. “And he warned that the technology could be misused for ‘selfish gain at the expense of others, or worse, to foment conflict and aggression’.”

Other figures on Time’s list include X founder Elon Musk, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and United States Senators Marsha Blackburn and Chris Murphy.

This is the third annual list published by Time focusing on the most influential people in AI.

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Pope Leo XIV listed in Time magazine’s ‘Most Influential People in Artificial Intelligence’ (By Tyler Arnold/CNA)

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Rerum Novarum (May 15, 1891) (Rerum Novarum: Pope Leo XIII)