Pope warns of dangers of AI, calls for fair wages for immigrants

Francis ends his Asia-Pacific trip with a meeting with authorities and dignitaries in devout Singapore.

Pope Francis, on a visit to Singapore, warned about the negative impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on society and called for fair wages for migrant workers. The statements by the leader of the Catholic Church came on Thursday (12), during his last stop on a 12-day trip through the Asia-Pacific, with Singapore being one of the main technological metropolises in the region.

According to news agencies, Francis highlighted that technological advances run the risk of alienating people, inserting them into a distorted reality. He emphasized that AI should be used to bring people together and promote understanding and solidarity, remembering that human relationships are fundamental and should not be forgotten.

This is not the first time the 87-year-old pontiff has addressed the issue of AI. In June, he called for a ban on “lethal autonomous weapons” during a speech to G7 leaders at a summit in Italy.

During his visit to Singapore, Francis also made a plea for foreign workers to receive fair wages, calling for special attention to “protecting the dignity of migrant workers.” He stressed the importance of these workers to society and argued that they should be properly compensated.

Cheap labor has been essential to the rapid growth of cities like Singapore. According to government data, as of December 2023, there were 1.1 million foreigners with work permits in the country, mostly from Bangladesh, China, India, Malaysia and the Philippines, earning less than 3,000 Singapore dollars (about $2,300) a month. Despite these workers’ contributions, advocates say they face precarious working conditions, although the government denies these allegations.

The Humanitarian Organization for Migration Economics, a Singapore-based NGO that supports migrant workers, welcomed the pope’s comments, saying they were “fully aligned” with his advocacy for fair wages.

According to the International Labour Organization, there are approximately 170 million migrant workers worldwide, representing about 5% of the global workforce.

Singapore was the last stop on the pope’s whirlwind trip, which also included visits to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor. In East Timor, he celebrated Mass for 600,000 faithful, nearly half the country’s population.

According to the Vatican, of Singapore’s nearly six million people, about 176,000 are Catholic. A mass at the city-state’s National Stadium on Thursday was expected to draw about 55,000 people.

Al Jazeera correspondent Patrick Fok reported from outside the stadium that Singapore’s Catholics were “extremely excited” about the pope’s presence, and that people from neighboring countries such as Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines had traveled to the city-state to attend the event.

Pope Francis returns to Rome on Friday.