The Pope's AI advisor says the technology can be worse for kids than cocaine

Paolo Benanti advises the Vatican on AI issues. Massimo Di Vita/Archivio Massimo Di Vita/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images A friar who advises the pope on AI has warned about its effects on young minds. Paolo Benanti said it "could be much, much worse than the addiction of nicotine or sugar or cocaine." Pope Leo has made AI a central concern of his pontificate. AI's impact on young minds can be worse than an addiction to nicotine or cocaine, said a moral theologian who advises the pope. In a Wednesday interview with the BBC's "Newsnight," Paolo Benanti said AI technologies could be "super manipulation tools." "The emotional bending that such a kind of machine can produce in young adults and kids could be much, much worse than the addiction of nicotine or sugar or cocaine," he added.