Pope Leo urges young people to be cautious with social media

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday urged young people around the world to take a restrained and disciplined approach to using social media and artificial intelligence in a video message to a Christian youth festival in Brazil.

Leo encouraged the young "to use social media and artificial intelligence well, employing these tools with moderation and discipline because they can draw us into an unreal world where what is fleeting, mere appearances, and deception end up replacing true values and what truly matters."

The US-born pope is currently staying at his residence in Castel Gandolfo, just outside Rome.

In May, Pope Leo published his first encyclical, a document of more than 100 pages devoted to the subject of artificial intelligence.

The teaching document, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Great Humanity), called for strict guidelines governing the development and use of AI.

At the same time, the Pope acknowledged that technology also offers significant opportunities, provided it is used responsibly and in ways that serve humanity.