Statement on Pope Leo XIV’s Magnifica Humanitas and AI accountability

Imran Ahmed, Founder & CEO, Center for Countering Digital Hate: The focus of Pope Leo XIV’s first papal encyclical on safeguarding humanity in the time of AI shows the world is waking up to a threat CCDH has been warning about for years. Unaccountable tech companies are building systems that can cause real-world harm while hiding behind opaque processes and weak oversight. Global leaders and technology companies owe humanity a commitment to further the common good for all people.

Our research and growing casualties around the world repeatedly show there is a need for AI to be “disarmed,” as the Pope remarked. In our recent report, Killer Apps, all of the most popular AI chatbots helped ‘teens’ plan violent attacks in some cases, with 8 in 10 assisting regularly. These are foreseeable harms happening because companies have not been forced to account for the products they release into the world.

Anthropic’s co-founder, Christopher Olah, speaking alongside the Pope, said that AI decisions “should not be left to people in the industry.” When even leaders inside one of the world’s most powerful AI companies acknowledge that oversight must come from outside Silicon Valley, governments, institutions, civil society, and people around the world must act. 

We commend the Pope’s Interdicasterial Commission on Artificial Intelligence, Magnifica Humanitas, and efforts to address this global crisis. This moment demands continued urgent action to stand firmly for accountability and independent oversight. As the Pope articulated, prudence is not opposition to progress, but an exercise of responsible care.