Nice try, sinners: Pope nixes idea of AI pontiff blessing netizens (www.theregister.com)

Pope Leo XIV publicly rejected a proposal to create an "artificial me" — an AI avatar that would let Catholics worldwide have virtual audiences with a simulated Pope — saying he would not authorize a digital pontiff. He framed the decision around dignity and authenticity ("If there's anybody who should not be represented by an avatar, I would say the Pope is high on the list") and reiterated broader worries about automation concentrating wealth and hollowing out meaningful work. Leo XIV stressed he isn’t against technology, citing his papal name choice (inspired by Pope Leo XIII and worker-rights concerns) as evidence that ethical stewardship of tech must include human-centered values. For the AI/ML community this is a high-profile reminder that synthetic personas and deepfakes raise consent, legitimacy and governance issues beyond novelty. The proposed system — a website hosting an AI that would answer users' questions as “the Pope” — highlights risks: impersonation of public figures, misinformation, erosion of trust, and ethical/legal questions about who can authorize likenesses. Technical and policy takeaways include stronger consent frameworks, explicit labeling/transparency for generated content, guardrails against misuse (e.g., misinformation or weaponized outputs), and attention to socioeconomic impacts of automation. The Vatican’s stance reinforces that cultural and institutional actors will shape norms and possibly regulation around AI impersonation and deployment.