# Pope Leo XIV Calls for Human Oversight and Steps Toward Autonomous Weapons Ban

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/regulation/44910
Published: 2026-10-30T16:49:51.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-30T16:49:51.000Z
Section: Regulation

> In an Oct. 30 address, he urged states meeting in Geneva in November to act against lethal autonomous weapons, but did not name the gathering.

Pope Leo XIV urged states due to meet in Geneva in November to move toward a ban on lethal autonomous weapons, saying decisions involving human life, freedom and force require responsible human oversight.

In an Oct. 30 address to a meeting organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Future of Life Institute, Leo said people must be able to direct AI applications, change how they work or reject them. “Machines are tools, not persons,” he said. He also warned that treating AI systems as persons could make it harder to identify human responsibility when they cause harm.

Leo said decisions affecting life, freedom and the use of force must remain subject to “effective, informed and responsible human oversight.” His call for action focused on lethal autonomous weapons, rather than a blanket rejection of AI.

The Seventh Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons is scheduled for Nov. 16-20 in Geneva. States at the conference can consider whether to begin negotiations on an instrument addressing lethal autonomous weapons. Leo did not identify that conference by name in his address.

In his May 15 encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, Leo described “disarming” AI as resisting competition to build increasingly powerful systems and the idea that technical power gives its holder the right to govern. The encyclical says this approach does not mean rejecting technology.