Pope Leo Calls to Save Art From AI
"Algorithms lack the spark of the human, whereas ‘authentic culture and art preserve this spark,’" hesaid in a recent speech.
When Patti Smith inaugurated the Holy See Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in May, the artist used her sound installation like a spiritual guide — one that asked audiences to listen, contemplate, and remember that their own intellect (not an artificially generated one) remains paramount to personal and spiritual enrichment. That sentiment appears to resonate with Pope Leo XIV, who stated that the Catholic Church plans to renew its alliance with artists and cultural institutions at the Vatican's Consistory Hall on Friday, October 2, amid rising threats of censorship and homogenization under AI.
"There is an ontological difference — even before an aesthetic one — between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others," the Pope stated in Friday’s speech.
Organized by the Dicastery for Culture and Education, “The Art of Possibility: Weaving Together" meeting brought together an audience of artists and curators, several of whom have contributed to the pavilion in recent years. Drawing upon the phrase “The Ear is the Eye of the Soul," the name of this year's Vatican pavilion, the Pope stated that, "like an antenna, art is receptive to the great questions of the human heart — sometimes like a cry, more often like a whisper — and makes them audible, visible and shareable."
"Algorithms lack the spark of the human, whereas ‘authentic culture and art preserve this spark,’" the Pope added, quoting his first encyclical letter, "Magnifica Humanitas," which was published in May. The letter cautions against the encroachment of AI on humanity, asserting that true progress cannot be measured by performance or technological speed, but through human empathy and connection.
