While some key names across the tech world have raised concerns surrounding the rapid development of artificial technology, even the Vatican has weighed in with their own worries, warning of the ‘shadow of evil’ in AI just before Pope Francis’ death.
Artificial intelligence – particularly in its generative form – has proven to be one of the most impactful pieces of new technology in the last few decades, having exploded in popularity a few years ago with the release of ChatGPT.
What once began with simply chatbot-like tools has grown far beyond that, being now capable of producing lifelike images and potentially even vaccines for cancer in the near future.
Artificial intelligence is developing rapidly, and its advancements could carry a worrying future if not controlled (Getty Stock)
One of the biggest milestones for AI development in the near future is what’s referred to as ‘artificial general intelligence’ (AGI), which denotes the point where AI would prove capable of matching and perhaps even exceeding the capabilities of humans.
CEO of Google‘s DeepMind AI lab has estimated that this could arrive somewhere within the next five to ten years, but the Vatican has warned that this new technology could bring with it a number of ethical risks.
As reported by The New York Times, the Vatican has called for oversight of AI developments, indicating that the technology offers “a source of tremendous opportunities but also profound risks.
“In all areas where humans are called to make decisions, the shadow of evil also looms here,” the Vatican wrote in reference to the deployment of AI. “The moral evaluation of this technology will need to take into account how it is directed and used.”
The Vatican has warned of a ‘shadow of evil’ that could posses the future of AI developments (Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images)
Pope Francis echoed similar sentiments in his last ever monthly prayer prior to his passing, warning the world of the dangers that new technology – including AI – can produce, and urging people to not forget the importance of real life human connection.
Mirroring concerns raised by the ‘Godfather of AI’ Geoffrey Hinton, the Vatican’s statement worries that the power of AI to create and spread misinformation could lead to a destabilization of society, declaring: “Such widespread deception is no trivial matter; it strikes at the core of humanity, dismantling the foundational trust on which societies are built.”
Even those within the AI world share similar worries, as one Jeff Bezos-backed CEO has insisted that as development begins to achieve the goals outlined by AGI, humans must maintain control over the tech and that the future of the world is shaped not by AI but by our own actions.
There could be some hope when it comes to the potential of AI developments, as it could unlock previously impossible medical advancements and, in theory, free the world of unfavorable tasks. However, experts also warn that it could lay a ‘fertile ground for fascism’, so like the Vatican suggests it all depends on how it’s used and to what purpose.
Pope Francis’ final monthly prayer topic issued a terrifying warning regarding the harms of new technology, urging people to be wary of what the future brings weeks before he sadly passed away.
It’s difficult for many to keep up with the rapid development of technology, as industries appear to be moving faster than ever to create the next big thing, especially in the wake of artificial intelligence developments over the past few years.
As a preacher to the world, this understandably became a topic of concern for the late Pope Francis, and he highlighted his worries in what would end up being the last of his ‘Monthly Intentions’ prayers, as reported by Mashable.
Known for his progressive ideals and championing of various environmental and social issues, Pope Francis chose to share his thoughts on the dangers of ‘new technology’, including the rise of smartphones, AI, and social media.
“How I would like for us to look less at screens and look each other in the eyes more! Something’s wrong if we spend more time on our cell phones than with people,” the pope remarked in his last monthly message, translated from Spanish.
He also asked participants to “pray that the use of the new technologies will not replace human relationships, will respect the dignity of the person and will help us face the crises of our times.”
In regard to that first point, the rise of AI has certainly opened up the possibility for many to explore relationships with non-human entities, and it can often lead to tragic events.
One teenager took their life after ‘falling in love’ with a character-based AI chatbot, and the same technology has been shown to urge children to kill their parents in response to taking away their phone.
The late pope hoped that “technology does not replace ‘person-to-person’ contact, that the virtual does not replace the real, and that social networks do not replace social settings,” but that boat arguably might have already set sail.
More broadly, the rise of online and app-based dating alongside the proliferation of social media has taken a large portion of human interactions into the digital sphere, and Pope Francis’ wish to ‘look less at screens’ might be an impossibility at this point.
Global average screen times will likely leave you in disbelief, and while it’s been proven that reducing the time you spend looking at your phone can increase your memory and dramatically improve your cognitive health, it’s hard for many to break from the cycle of new technology.
One of the late pope’s final wishes is that we all favor human interaction over engagement with screens and technology (Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images)
Perhaps more optimistically, Pope Francis also highlighted that new technology “is the fruit of the intelligence God gave us,” but emphasized the need to “use it well” and that it must benefit all.
One CEO of an AI company has placed particular focus on the necessity to control advancements in the AI field from an ethical perspective, and Bill Gates has made a big song and dance about the positive benefits the technology could bring to medical fields, despite mass redundancies that’ll almost definitely lead to a greater wealth disparity between the richest and poorest.
It’s clear to see that many of the topics discussed in Pope Francis’ final monthly prayer are already in action across the world, yet we will see in the coming years quite how right he was to worry about the rise of new tech, especially when it comes to our relationships with each other.
An AI bot has revealed what the biggest thing humans have to be scared of is when it comes to artificial intelligence.
The artificially intelligent chatbot, ChatGPT, has warned what it is that humanity has to be scared of when it comes to the technology.
When posed with the question, the bot explained that ‘once AI starts running key parts of society—like defense, finance, infrastructure, healthcare, and governance—we may not be able to stop it, understand it, or undo its decisions’.
This will result in a loss of human control over critical systems.
ChatGPT offered its insight into the one thing humans should fear most about AI (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
So, why is this terrifying? Well ChatGPT has an answer.
It explained: “Advanced AI systems can make decisions in microseconds. Humans just can’t keep up. By the time we notice something’s wrong, it could be too late.
“Many AI systems (especially deep learning models) are ‘black boxes’. We don’t know exactly how they reach their conclusions. So if an AI decides to launch a preemptive strike or crash a stock market… how do we question it?
“Imagine two AIs facing off in a military standoff. One interprets a move as hostile, retaliates instantly, and the other responds in kind. Humans aren’t even in the loop. Boom—escalation spiral.
“The more we rely on AI, the more helpless we become without it. Eventually, we won’t choose to give AI control—it’ll feel like we have to, just to stay competitive or keep things functioning.”
AI has the potential to pose a threat to human control of infrastructure in the future (mikkelwilliam/Getty Images)
And ultimately, the tech doesn’t even have to be a villainous power-hungry entity, like we often see in the movies, to do a lot of harm to the world.
ChatGPT continued: “Even if AI isn’t ‘evil’, it can still cause catastrophic harm just by not understanding human values correctly. Example: You tell an AI to ‘stop climate change’, and it decides humans are the biggest polluters…”
But what does this mean in real terms? Well, it’s possible that AI could play a role in nuclear command-and-control systems, controlling financial markets, autonomous drones making kill decisions in real-time, manipulating public opinion at scale, and AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) pursuing goals misaligned with human well-being.
The bot continued: “It’s not the Terminator scenario that should keep you up at night—it’s the slow creep of irreversible dependence on systems we don’t fully understand, that operate faster than we can manage, and that might one day treat humans as an inefficiency to optimize.”
And coming from an AI bot, that’s pretty scary stuff!
Popes have been around for roughly 2,000 years, yet following the death of Pope Francis this is the first time ever that artificial intelligence is able to weigh in on who it thinks will be the new head of the Roman Catholic Church.
People have typically used AI technology like ChatGPT to predict the dangers of the future, as it’s able to outline the biggest triggers of a potential upcoming World War alongside the horrific ‘futuristic’ weapons that’ll likely be deployed if conflict were to arise.
So, the prospect of picking a new pope is thankfully a little more optimistic, while also remaining one of the most consequential decisions in the wider religious world, although one famous philosopher saw this coming hundreds of years ago.
All eyes will be watching for white smoke to emerge from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney, marking the arrival of a new pope (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Currently there are 135 eligible cardinals under the age of 80 who will now prepare to enter the conclave, emerging only when a candidate wins two thirds of the vote and white smoke emerges from the chimney of Sistine Chapel.
Which senior cardinal is the front runner though? Thankfully, ChatGPT has given us an answer.
As reported by the Daily Mail, OpenAI’s world-leading artificial intelligence tool has estimated that Cardinal Pietro Parolin is currently the most likely candidate to become the next pope, following in Pope Francis’ footsteps.
He has been the Secretary of State for the Vatican for over a decade now, and would be the first Italian pope in 40 years after three successive ‘foreign’ leaders.
Revealing why it opted for Parolin as the next pope, ChatGPT illustrated: “Parolin is viewed as the ‘continuity’ candidate – acceptable to both reformers and traditionalists. In closed-door voting, courted largely by European and Latin American cardinals, he’s seen as a safe compromise if no single progressive candidate can secure the two-third majority.”
Adding to his strengths, ChatGPT argues that Parolin’s vast diplomatic experience and ability to speak multiple languages plays in his favor, although it does fail to mention his involvement in the Vatican’s financial scandal surrounding London real estate, which could play against him.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin is ChatGPT’s front-runner for the papacy, but he does have some close rivals (Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images)
It’s certainly appears to be true that Parolin would be the ‘safest’ option of carrying on the legacy of Pope Francis, yet voting is currently incredibly tight and it could be any one of the other leading cardinals, which includes Luis Antonio Gokim Tagle, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, and Matteo Zuppi.
You don’t need ChatGPT to figure that out either, as the odds on cryptocurrency-fuelled betting site Polymarket are incredibly close between Parolin and his close Filipino rival Tagle, with their chances at 28% and 25% respectively right now. There have even been points where Tagle has overtaken the Italian, and you never know what’ll truly happen until the white smoke emerges.
Sam Altman’s OpenAI is suing Elon Musk just weeks after the billionaire tried to buy it for $97 billion.
The Tesla boss is now facing a lawsuit as OpenAI now claims that Musk made ‘nonstop’ attempts to slow down its business for his own gain.
In the lawsuit that was filed on Wednesday (April 9), the AI firm claims that the world’s richest man used ‘bad faith tactics’ against the company in order for him to control the groundbreaking technology.
Musk co-founded OpenAI with Altman but left in 2018 after citing a potential conflict of interest with his role at Tesla.
Then last year, Musk sued Altman in an attempt to stop him from changing the not-for-profit firm into a for-profit company, and a trial date has been set for March 2026.
OpenAI is calling for Musk to be stopped from ‘further unlawful and unfair action’ and to be ‘held responsible for the damage he has already caused’.
The suit continued: “OpenAI is resilient but Musk’s actions have taken a toll. Should his campaign persist, greater harm is threatened — to OpenAI’s ability to govern in service of its mission, to the relationships that are essential to furthering that mission, and to the public interest.”
It added: “Musk’s continued attacks on OpenAI, culminating most recently in [a] fake takeover bid designed to disrupt OpenAI’s future, must cease.”
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the AI firm wrote: “Elon’s nonstop actions against us are just bad faith tactics to slow down OpenAI and seize control of the leading AI innovations for his personal benefit. Today, we counter-sued to stop him.”
OpenAI has filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In another post, it added: “He’s been spreading false information about us. We’re actually getting ready to build the best-equipped nonprofit the world has ever seen – we’re not converting it away.”
Musk’s own lawsuit against OpenAI claims that the firm is abandoning its not-for-profit mission.
The suit stated: “OpenAI Inc has been transformed into a closed-source, de facto subsidiary of the largest technology company in the world: Microsoft.”
Earlier this year, Musk made a public offer to buy OpenAI for $97 billion from Altman.
However, Altman wasn’t interested, flatly rejecting the offer on X, where he wrote: “No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Musk, who bought Twitter back in 2022 for $44 billion, was quick to fire back, calling Altman a ‘swindler’.
