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Pope Leo XIV will personally present his highly anticipated encyclical on artificial intelligence, "Magnifica Humanitas," at the Vatican on Monday.
This historic event marks the first time a pope will attend the launch of such a document in person.
The manifesto aims to tackle the global ethical and social dilemmas posed by rapid AI development.
The presentation will feature both Vatican officials and prominent tech figures, including the co-founder of Anthropic.
The American AI startup is currently locked in a legal dispute with the U.S. military over its refusal to allow its Claude model to be used for mass surveillance or autonomous warfare.
Since taking office a year ago as the first American pontiff, Leo has consistently criticized the militarization of AI, labeling the reliance on machines for life-and-death decisions a "destructive spiral."
He has also raised alarms over AI's broader risks, including the distortion of reality through simulations and the environmental damage driven by the aggressive mining of rare earth elements for electronics.
AI could be worth up to $4.8 trillion by 2033, a 25-fold increase in a decade, while concentrating its profits in the hands of a limited few, according to the U.N.
Leo has made the hot-button issue a cornerstone of his papacy, dedicating his first encyclical to it—a document that lays the groundwork for Church teaching and long-term debate.
Experts say "Magnifica Humanitas" could prove as influential as Pope Francis's "Laudato Si," a 2015 climate manifesto that triggered political and civic reactions worldwide.
The Vatican sees this new text as an extension of its social teachings on "protecting people in the AI era."
It was signed on May 15, the 135th anniversary of a 1891 encyclical by Leo XIII, which laid the foundations of the Church's social doctrine during the Industrial Revolution.
"The Industrial Revolution transformed the labour market, people's lives, hegemony, and power dynamics," said Marijana Grbesa, political science professor at the University of Zagreb, and a speaker at an AI conference in the Vatican.
"At the time, it was necessary to train individuals in the use of tools. The same is true today: we need to train and educate," she told AFP.
The pope, she said, will emphasise that "education is not enough today."
"It's a wake-up call for the whole of civilization," to "be rational when we use these tools."
Leo has emphasised the need for "digital literacy... to understand how algorithms shape our perception of reality."
In April, he warned against the use of AI to fuel "polarization, conflict, fear, and violence." And in January, he lamented "the lack of transparency in the creation of the algorithms" that govern the operation of various chatbots, whose use is growing rapidly worldwide.
The release of "Magnificent Humanity" follows several years of study by the Church of AI-related technologies.
As early as 2020, the Holy See launched the "Rome Appeal for an AI Ethic", which called for new technologies to respect human dignity.
Leo's predecessor Pope Francis spoke extensively on the subject, calling for AI to be regulated and warning that it could exacerbate inequalities.
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