Vance praises Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence as 'profound'

(Patria) - US Vice President JD Vance has praised Pope Leo XIV's manifesto warning about the risks of artificial intelligence (AI), calling it a 'profound' and necessary act of moral leadership in the disruptive age of AI, AFP reported.

Vance has close ties to the tech industry, having worked in economics before entering politics, and counts Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, among his most prominent supporters.

In the encyclical titled 'Magnifica Humanitas' (Magnificent Humanity), the first American Pope, who has clashed with the White House over the war in Iran and the use of religion to justify conflict, on Monday laid out a list of warnings about how technology could affect humanity.

Among other dangers, he said AI could lead to 'new forms of slavery'.

'What I've read about it sounds very profound and something that you would expect and hope for from a leader of the church,' Vance told NBC News in an interview.

'The thing about morality is that the principles never change, but the way you apply them changes, because the world changes, right?' Vance added.

Vance and the Vatican have clashed over immigration policy, with Pope Leo condemning the White House's mass deportation policy.

The Vice President, who converted to Catholicism in 2019, said he was happy that the Pope, who is from Chicago, took the name Leo XIV when he took leadership of the Holy See last year.

'I think it was very much a nod to Leo XIII who, of course, became Pope at the beginning of the industrial age' and similarly wrote a warning about the impact of major technological changes at that time on humanity.

Leo XIV 'becomes Pope at the beginning of the age of artificial intelligence, and I think if we navigate this successfully, it will be in large part because the Pope and the church are able to provide the kind of moral leadership that we need,' Vance added.

'I think we really need moral leadership to think through these issues, and that's exactly what the church is the best leader to do,' Vance said.