Pope Leo XIV warns AI could spread ‘fear and violence’ worldwide

Pope Leo XIV used a speech to students and teachers in Cameroon's capital Yaoundé on Friday to deliver his sharpest warning yet about artificial intelligence, saying the technology risked replacing reality itself with simulation and that the consequences were already playing out on the world stage.

The timing was striking. Just days before Leo addressed the Catholic University of Central Africa, US President Donald Trump posted an AI-generated image on Truth Social apparently depicting himself as a Christ-like figure.

The post was deleted after religious leaders accused him of blasphemy but not before it ignited a transatlantic row between the pope and the sitting US president.

"What is at stake is not merely the risk of error, but a transformation in our very relationship with truth," Leo told the audience, speaking to more than 120,000 worshippers who had gathered in the stifling heat of Douala for his landmark Mass.

Leo had frequently discussed AI after his election victory in May 2025, but on Friday, he elevated the discussion to a new level. According to Leo, AI not only poses a threat to misinformation but slowly dissolves the line between reality and fiction.

"Polarisation, conflict, fear and violence spread," he said. "The challenge posed by these systems is greater than it appears: it is not just about the use of new technologies but about the gradual replacement of reality by its simulation."

He also condemned what he called the "environmental devastation" caused by rare-earth extraction fuelling AI's growth, a direct challenge to the Trump administration's resource-focused Africa strategy.

The feud between the pontiff and the U.S. president has sharpened across Leo's 11-day African tour. After the pope criticised the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, Trump branded him "weak on crime and terrible for foreign policy". When Leo denounced the "handful of tyrants" ravaging the world on Thursday, Trump responded that the Pope needed to grasp the realities of a "nasty world".

Leo, for his part, has shown no sign of backing down, ignoring Catholic US Vice President JD Vance's pointed request for the Church to "stick to matters of morality".

Away from the politics of Washington, the message of Leo was heard in another way in Cameroon. People danced and shouted, "Long live the pope," as he reached the esplanade of the Japoma Stadium.