In late May, Pope Leo
During the meeting, he discussed a wide range of AI-related topics, including the need for policy and legal frameworks as technology evolves, and the risks of concentrating power in the hands of a few. He also addressed the conversation surrounding the relationship between AI and humans.
“So-called artificial intelligence has no experience, has no body, does not feel pleasure or pain, does not mature through human relationships, and does not know from within what love, work, friendship, and responsibility mean,” he wrote.
He added: “They may imitate language, behavior, analytical skills, they may imitate empathy and understanding, but they don’t understand what they produce.”
According to a 2025 survey of 1,012 U.S. adults conducted by therapy practice Vantage Point Counseling Services, more than half of Americans said they had some kind of relationship with an AI system. Additionally, a 2025 report by the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media found that the majority of 13- to 17-year-olds, 72%, have used an AI companion at least once.
Vail Wright, senior director of health care innovation at the American Psychological Association, said the pope’s words “put a greater spotlight on this particular phenomenon than before.”
That’s why she and Omri Gilas, a psychology professor at the University of Kansas, think it’s important.
“Successful, effective relationships are mutually beneficial.”
These days, “people are losing relationships,” Gilas said. “People are spending less time with friends and less time with romantic partners.”
According to the 2025 America’s Social Connections Report, nearly three-quarters of Americans see their closest friends less than twice a month, and 29% rarely or never talk to them on the phone or video call.
And AI-human relationships “can certainly mimic a sense of connection, and obviously are very effective, but there’s a lot of debate about that. They’re one-sided, and human relationships, successful, effective human relationships, are reciprocal,” Wright says.
Unlike human-AI relationships, human relationships are difficult, she says, and that’s “a way to build resilience.” “It’s how we learn about ourselves, it’s how we learn about others. It’s how we develop values and goals.”
Relationships with AI can also increase feelings of loneliness and make users more dependent on technology, Gilas says.
“Truly, there is no humanity without others.”
It’s worth remembering a few things when using this technique to avoid falling into unhealthy patterns.
First, it’s “specifically designed to keep users interested,” Wright says, whether or not it ultimately benefits their health.
Second, Wright “would encourage people to think about what AI is good at and what it’s bad at,” she says. Experts say generative AI can help improve resumes, but researchers have found that generative AI isn’t always a good tool for mental health.
Ultimately, he writes, Pope Leo acknowledged that “these innovations can greatly contribute to the vital development of humanity.”
But when it comes to our most important relationships, Wright says, “There really is no humanity without the other.”
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