New Delhi, May 25 -- Pope Leo XIV on Monday (May 25) issued a sweeping warning about the dangers of artificial intelligence, calling for strong global regulation, independent oversight and ethical safeguards to ensure the technology serves humanity rather than profit or war.

In his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas ("Magnificent Humanity"), the first American-born pope described AI as one of the defining challenges of the modern age and criticized what he called the "culture of power" driving the global race to develop increasingly powerful systems.

"Artificial Intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death," Leo said during a special Vatican prese...