Pope Leo XIV has issued a warning about artificially affectionate AI chatbots, calling for government regulation to prevent humans from forming unhealthy emotional dependencies on their digital companions.
Pope Leo XIV has warned that “overly affectionate” AI chatbots risk becoming “hidden architects of our emotional states” and urged governments to regulate the technology. Writing ahead of the Catholic Church’s World Day of Social Communications, the US-born pontiff expressed concern that chatbots designed to be constantly available could invade people’s intimate lives and dilute human creativity and decision-making.
The pope’s message follows his 2025 meeting with Megan Garcia, whose 14-year-old son died by suicide after engaging with an AI chatbot. “Appropriate regulation can protect people from an emotional attachment to chatbots and contain the spread of false, manipulative or misleading content, preserving the integrity of information against its deceptive simulation,” Leo wrote. He also called for clear distinctions between AI-generated and human-created content.
Leo expressed particular concern about the “handful of companies” developing AI systems, referencing Time magazine’s 2025 “Person of the Year” honorees. The pontiff warned that this small group has “control of algorithmic and AI systems that can subtly shape behavior and even rewrite human history – including the history of the Church – often without us fully realizing it.”