Pope Leo XIV opens a four-day visit to France by warning that a “paradise of machines” could undermine humanity. In an address to President Emmanuel Macron and diplomats at the Élysée Palace, he frames the rise of advanced technology as a moral and existential challenge.
Several outlets report that the pope links his warning to the age of artificial intelligence and asks fundamental questions about what it means to be human, alongside wider risks such as a nuclear arms race. NPR and PBS NewsHour describe the speech as raising concerns about scientific progress, life, and human rights. Other outlets also emphasize the Vatican’s stance on nuclear weapons, presenting it as part of the same broader message about threats to human survival.
Coverage also points to the trip’s agenda following the opening remarks. Globe and Mail and PBS NewsHour note planned engagements including a visit to UNESCO headquarters and the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral, as well as a youth vigil. Al Jazeera adds that large crowds gather in Paris as the pope delivers the warning, underscoring the public attention to his comments on AI and the future of humanity.
