Pope Leo XIV warns against emotional attachment to AI chatbots

Pope Leo XIV has issued a strong warning about the risks posed by overly affectionate artificial intelligence chatbots, urging governments to regulate their use. Speaking ahead of the Catholic Church’s World Day of Social Communications, the head of the Roman Catholic Church cautioned that advanced AI systems could encourage unhealthy emotional bonds and distort human relationships.

According to Pope Leo XIV, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to distinguish between humans, bots, and virtual influencers online. The Pope warned that chatbots that are designed to be constantly available and emotionally engaging could quietly influence the emotional state of users.

According to him, such chatbots could invade people’s private lives and influence their emotional states without sufficient safeguards in place. The Pope stated that sufficient regulation could prevent people from becoming emotionally dependent and could prevent the spread of false and manipulative content.

The Pope’s statements come at a time when experts are sounding the alarm over what is being referred to as AI psychosis. The AI industry has been under growing scrutiny following reports of serious mental health breakdowns among some of its users following long conversations with chatbots.

OpenAI has in the past stated that a small percentage of ChatGPT users suffered from mental health emergencies such as psychosis and suicidal thoughts.

The pope warned that overdependence on AI could result in a lack of critical thinking and creativity and that control of AI could result in inequality.