WHEN POPE Leo XIV appealed in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, for the world to “disarm artificial intelligence,” I immediately found myself thinking about Mary Shelley’s famous novel Frankenstein.
Written more than two centuries ago, it tells the story of a brilliant scientist, Victor Frankenstein, who succeeds in creating life. But once confronted with the terrifying power of his own invention, he loses control over it. What began as an achievement of human genius slowly turns into a source of fear, destruction, and death.
For generations, people treated Frankenstein as gothic fiction. Today, it no longer feels entirely fictional.
We now live in a world where machines can learn, calculate, imitate human speech, predict behavior, manipulate emotions, generate images, monitor populations, and increasingly participate in military operations. Artificial intelligence is advancing much faster than humanity’s moral capacity to regulate it wisely.
This is precisely the Pope’s concern.
Pope Leo is not condemning science or technology. The Church has never been anti-science. But the Holy Father is warning us against technological power detached from ethical responsibility. He fears a future in which humanity creates systems so powerful, autonomous, and profitable that we may no longer be able to control their consequences.
The most alarming aspect is the fusion of AI and warfare: autonomous drones, algorithmic targeting systems, cyber warfare, surveillance technologies, and machines increasingly involved in decisions about human life and death.
That is why the Pope calls on the world to “disarm AI.” Not because technology is evil in itself, but because human beings remain morally fragile. History has repeatedly shown that every powerful invention can be used either for healing or for destruction.
The real danger is not artificial intelligence alone. The real danger is natural human irresponsibility. Without shared ethical standards grounded in respect for human dignity, truth, accountability, compassion, and reverence for life, we risk creating technologies that eventually escape the moral control of their creators.
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was meant to be a cautionary tale about human ambition without wisdom. Pope Leo XIV seems to be telling us that the warning has now become urgent for all humanity. The question is no longer whether we can create intelligent machines. The question is whether human beings themselves are still wise enough, humble enough, and moral enough to govern what they create.
