Pope Francis becomes the first pontiff to address the Group of Seven, delivering a speech about artificial intelligence

By The Associated Press

June 14, 2024 at 8:15 am CDT

Pope Francis, left, greets U.S. President Joe Biden during a working session on AI, Energy, Africa and Mideast at the G7 summit, in Borgo Egnazia, near Bari in southern Italy, Friday, June 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) (Andrew Medichini/AP)

BORGO EGNAZIA, Italy — (AP) — Pope Francis became the first pontiff to address the Group of Seven nations on Friday, raising the promise and perils of artificial intelligence to the leaders of the world’s leading industrialized nations.

Francis addressed the G7 and other invited countries at their annual summit in southern Italy. When he arrived, the room, which had been boisterous with delegations, went quiet as he greeted each of the G7 members and the expanded guest list.

Francis intended to use the occasion to join the chorus of countries and global bodies pushing for stronger guardrails on AI following the boom in generative artificial intelligence kickstarted by OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

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