Pope Leo XIV is not a fan of AI-generated art
Pope Leo XIV posted on X on Friday morning about the spiritual difference between human-generated art and art generated by machines, as part of a call to preserve human art from the encroachment of AI.
"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgent to distinguish human art from what machines produce," the pope wrote. He added that there is "an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others," and that "algorithms lack the spark of humanity."
The pope gave a more detailed statement on AI in an encyclical letter in May, which emphasized the importance of human dignity in a world of increasing automation.
According to a recent New York Times report, Anthropic has actively lobbied the Vatican to reconsider its position on non-human consciousness, apparently finding little success, the report said.
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Publisher excerpt
"There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others," the pope wrote. "Algorithms lack the spark of humanity."