Pope Leo XIV implored clergy from the Diocese of Rome to resist a new kind of temptation during a closed-door meeting in February, according to Futurism.
Today, "deus ex machina" typically refers to an implausible plot device in fiction — but the phrase literally means "god in the machine," and Pope Leo's exhortation pertained to an unsurprising, unsettling trend involving the use of ChatGPT for an integral part of the liturgy.
On Feb. 20, Vatican News covered Leo's interactions with Catholic priests from four age groups, during which he urged the clergy to resist "the temptation to prepare homilies" using artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT.
"Like all the muscles in the body, if we do not use them, if we do not move them, they die. The brain needs to be used, so our intelligence must also be exercised a little so as not to lose this capacity," the pope said.
Pope Leo — who also emphasized that the purpose of the homily is to "preach the faith," something AI tools can't do — was referencing a documented side effect of AI usage known as "deskilling."
The Vatican is far from the only institution or entity grappling with the impacts of AI powers. Around the world, the rise of AI has rattled schools, the job market, and, quite controversially, the energy landscape.
As AI adoption continues, data center development is exploding, with communities reporting declining quality of life due to the noise and air pollution generated by these facilities. Unfortunately, those impacts aren't limited to their vicinity.
By mid-2025, data center energy demand had driven up electric bills nationwide, with ratepayers unwittingly subsidizing AI growth. In addition to depleting community water resources, data centers' electricity usage strains the increasingly obsolete public grid.
AI firms such as Meta have pitched their tools as solutions to the loneliness epidemic, and a number of users have developed romantic relationships with chatbots, raising questions about the technology's effect on mental health and real-life connections.
While Pope Leo XIV didn't address social isolation in the context of AI, his commentary to the Diocese of Rome nevertheless considered the issue, encouraging priests to foster sincere fellowship with young parishioners.
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"They live a kind of distance from others, a coldness, without knowing the richness, the value of truly human relationships," Leo said.
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