The Americans share Pope Leo's concern about AI: "They threaten workers, privacy and human lives"

Pope Leo, in his first important papal text following his assumption of the leadership of the Catholic Church last year, this week issued a strong warning against the rise of artificial intelligence and condemned the “culture of power” that had advanced the age of artificial intelligence.

The Pope, who was born in the United States, called for “the strictest” moral constraint on artificial intelligence (which he described as one of the greatest threats to humanity today) and warned of “new forms of slavery” in the digital economy.

In an interview with The Guardian, American readers responded to the Pope's concern that artificial intelligence was an “unregulated” industry that was increasingly being used “to the detriment of too many people”, while raising concerns about surveillance, labour loss, war and environmental hazards.

For Linda Give, a 74-year-old resident of Boston, Massachusetts, the Pope's warnings resonated deeply. She runs a small gift shop in Cambridge for almost 40 years.

Gavin said: “I think it is right that he emphasized the dignity of human beings and warned that the area of artificial intelligence was developing too fast and without any major oversight.” He added: “It is terrible to use it as a substitute for human interaction or human agency in any form ... and it is quite likely to be manipulated to do destructive things”.

A similar concern was expressed by Stephen Sincovskie, a 55-year-old printing director from Howell, New Jersey.

“Unregulated artificial intelligence can threaten workers, privacy and even human life. Unfortunately, the most corrupt family in politics... is making money without seeing it, he says.

“I fear that the use of artificial intelligence will replace workers and help introduce fascist surveillance of the country. I can't believe that 1% of the people are interested in paying a guaranteed monthly salary, relaxing and enjoying a career and a life without debt."

Others are concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence on education and critical thinking.

Debra, a 58-year-old university professor in Massachusetts, said she was worried that students were losing critical thinking.

“From my point of view, artificial intelligence deprives many students of critical thinking, learning the methods of research and expressing their needs through writing”, she said, and added, “I appreciate the Pope's point of view, simply hoping that the Church can apply the logic of artificial intelligence to its position on gender and sexuality. For example, it is absurd that women cannot be priests in churches. This should be an easy solution, but unfortunately these so-called saints cannot see their way. Recognition of the inherent dignity of the human person extends to women as well.”

For California ' s 70-year-old retired Scott Gibbs, the problem ultimately lies in moral leadership.

“There is a need for some moral clarity on this issue, which is certainly not Sam Altmann, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bessos or Elon Mask. They had no soul, "Jib said he was not Catholic but supported Pope Leo.

Lauren, a reader in Baltimore, Maryland, who works in international aid and relief, also praised the Pope for his intervention.

She said: “His messages and words constitute much-needed moral leadership in this era, especially when science and technology leaders are primarily concerned with profits at the expense of humanity.”

She also noted the environmental costs of artificial intelligence and its increasing use in war.

“Yes, artificial intelligence is consuming natural resources and land at an alarming rate, with questionable benefits. In the best of circumstances, if the product succeeds as the technocrats wish, it will replace humanity and make it difficult for ordinary people to earn a living. It has been used for war, and there are fears that it will speed up the conflict and lead to the killing of civilians. The expansion of artificial intelligence occurs without any citizen involvement, and the threat of artificial intelligence is enormous.”

Sam Bakkila, a 37-year-old New York City computer science and pedagogic designer, shares many of the Pope's criticisms.

“Agent intelligence is being developed and driven by some of the worst leaders in the technology and venture capital industry in the United States, whose overall strategy is to move quickly to break the rules and to create a strong monopoly before the government catch up, taking advantage of opportunities that government bureaucracy cannot regulate in a timely manner.” Bakira said that his livelihood depended on helping students use artificial intelligence professionally.

“I believe that it is impossible to understand anything that is happening in the current American politics without taking into account the influence of artificial intelligence. I believe that the chief executive officers of science and technology who supported Donald Trump know that these four years have been crucial to the adoption of artificial intelligence, and they support him because they know that he will avoid regulating artificial intelligence and will receive hundreds of billions of dollars in government funding for artificial intelligence infrastructure and for integrating artificial intelligence into defence networks.”

Bakira goes on to say: “Advisory intelligence is driving American firms further towards monopoly... These enterprises are now aware that it is in their interest to ensure an unregulated political environment.”

67 Paul, a former professor of ethics and logic in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, compared artificial intelligence to nuclear weapons and considered both capable of causing large-scale harm.

“They are all targeted anywhere on Earth and almost anyone else. Why have nuclear weapons never been used? In short, humanity has successfully applied universally held ethical/ethical rules to prevent the use of nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons have not been used since then if our country did not carry out its grave folly by bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We quoted a common moral position throughout the world: we would not use nuclear weapons, he said.

“Agent intelligence has the same capacity to create conditions/actions to harm and even kill millions. It's about enslaving us. There is, however, no built-in moral process other than to serve the global oligopoly that governs everything,” Paul adds.

However, not all readers believe that the Pope ' s views should have a special authority in the global A.I. debate.

“I don't understand why the Pope's words have an impact on anything. In an increasingly secular world, why is there any relevance to a person who claims to speak on behalf of the so-called gods?” Charlie Hinkle, a 60-year-old technologist from Charlotte, North Carolina, says.

He went on to say: “The Catholic Church is probably the largest organized religion in the world, but its followers have long seemed to be acting on different issues (conception, LGBTQ rights, empowerment of women, etc.). For me, the Pope is irrelevant.”

A 76-year-old firefighter in Oklahoma also rejected the broader framework between religion and artificial intelligence.

“I find that the debate about artificial intelligence and religion, any religion, is meaningless, just as it is about which Ebola and the Hantan virus are worse, both are equally disgusting. The insistence on religious or artificial intelligence reveals a serious weakness in the human condition, namely, the need for some external validation or support, which leads to individuals being manipulated and exploited by one or the other's provider, he says.