New Pope reveals surprising reason for choosing his name
AI helped the new Pope choose his name (photo: Getty Images)
In his first address to the College of Cardinals, Pope Leo XIV presented his vision for the papacy and explained the reasoning behind his chosen name, emphasizing the significant role that AI played in the decision, The Verge reports.
The Pope explains why he chose the name Leo XIV
In the official translation of the speech published by the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV noted that his name refers to Pope Leo XIII, who led the Church during the time of the First Industrial Revolution.
"I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical "Rerum Novarum" addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution," the pontiff stated.
"In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defence of human dignity, justice and labour," Leo XIV emphasized.
In recent years, the Catholic Church has shown growing interest in the development of AI. In January, the Vatican published a document reflecting on the limitations of AI, its relation to truth, and the ethics of developing and using this technology.
The document also referenced a warning made the year before by Pope Francis about AI’s potential ability to generate "partially or completely false narratives, believed and broadcast as if they were true."
While Pope Francis defined the Church’s stance on AI, Pope Leo XIV’s mention of this technology as one of the key reasons for choosing his papal name indicates that AI will become an even more significant topic during his pontificate.
Earlier, we reported that AI had predicted the name of the next Pope after Francis.
