Pope Leo XIV Warns of AI-Generated Art’s Difference from Human Art

Pope Leo XIV has called for a distinction between human art and art generated by artificial intelligence, saying machines lack a quality that comes from human experience.

In a post on X Friday morning, the pope said there is an “ontological difference” between art and what machines produce through statistical calculations based on millions of images made by others. “Algorithms lack the spark of humanity,” he wrote.

The post framed the distinction as a spiritual one, preceding any aesthetic difference, and called for human art to be protected from AI’s encroachment. In an encyclical letter in May, Leo XIV had also emphasized human dignity amid increasing automation.

TechCrunch, citing a recent New York Times report, said Anthropic had lobbied the Vatican to reconsider its position on non-human consciousness, apparently without much success. The report’s characterization of the lobbying and its outcome is attributed to those outlets.