Pope Francis speaks at G7 about AI; holds meetings with Biden, other world leaders

June 14 (UPI) -- Pope Francis told G7 leaders on Friday that artificial intelligence brings great hope for society but can also exacerbate many ills.

The pontiff, who became the first pope to address the world's leading industrialized nations at the G7 Summit in Borgo Egnazia, Puglia, Italy and held bilateral meetings with many of the attendees, including U.S. President Joe Biden .

He said AI has the potential to start "a true cognitive-industrial revolution that can lead to the "democratization of the access of knowledge [and] exponential advancement of scientific research."

Pope Francis said if left unmonitored, AI could also lead to "greater injustice between advanced and developing nations or between dominant and oppressed social classes."

He said it was important to remember that AI is a tool to be used by humans instead of using it to replace humans. He said AI is capable of making decisions based on "algorithmic choices" based on "several possibilities based either on well-defined criteria or on statistical inferences."

He said "important decisions" must "always be left to the human person." He argued that algorithms are "neither objective nor neutral," but based only on the information AI has before it.

"Human beings are always developing, and are capable of surprising us by their actions," Pope Francis said. "This is something that a machine cannot take into account.

"Strictly speaking, so-called generative artificial intelligence is not really 'generative.' [It does not] develop new analyses or concepts. [It] repeats those that it finds, giving them an appealing form."

Francis urged leaders to work together to build a set of global values and "shared principles" in using artificial intelligence to resolve dilemmas and conflicts and making sure humans remain in control and responsible for the technology.

Biden, only the second Catholic president in U.S. history, attends services weekly and has often talked about the importance of his faith during difficult times. Biden last met Francis in October 2021 at the Vatican.

The Vatican said he is also scheduled to hold private meetings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky , French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau . He also will meet with International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva.

Later in the day, Francis will also meet with Indian President Narendra Modi , Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva , Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.