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Holy See: The use of AI in agrifood systems needs to place humans at the center
Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, insists on the importance of human dignity and development when using artificial intelligence in agrifood systems, at an event jointly organized by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization and the Permanent Mission.
By Isabella H. de Carvalho
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be a powerful tool to use in agrifood systems to help address world hunger but human beings need to remain at the center, Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, said on October 5, 2026.
“In an age where technology has extended life expectancy, has spread globally, and has opened new frontiers for development, to allow millions to die of hunger is simply a collective failure, an ethical aberration, a historical shame,” he said in his opening remarks for the conference “Human-Centered AI for Agrifood Systems: From Ethics to Implementation.”
The event took place in Geneva on October 5 and was organized by FAO, the United Nations’s Food and Agriculture Organization, and the Permanent Mission of the Holy See to the UN in Geneva.
“Using the tools available – both new and old – we are impelled by a duty that is as old as the history of humankind: to feed the hungry,” Archbishop Balestrero insisted.
“In this endeavour, AI can offer new opportunities to close the gap between the well-fed and those who do not have access to food and nutrition. But it can also widen this rift. The choice is ours and cannot be delegated to machines. Hunger will not be ended by intelligence alone, be it human or artificial, but by conscientious, responsible, and ultimately human determination and action.”
The event organized by FAO and the Permanent Mission of the Holy See in Geneva
The importance of human dignity and development
In his opening address, the Permanent Observer noted how during Pope Leo XIV’s visit to the FAO headquarters in October 2025, he “recalled with concern that 673 million people worldwide go to bed without eating, and another 2.3 billion cannot afford a nutritionally adequate diet,” adding that “these figures cannot be dismissed as mere statistics.”
Archbishop Balestrero underlined that in an age of rapid technological development, these new digital tools, including AI, can benefit small farmers in many ways, such as having access to agronomic knowledge and markets and receiving early warnings effectively. These technologies can offer “a transformative potential for productivity, resilience and sustainability.”
However, he also underlined, citing Pope Leo’s encyclical “Magnifica Humanitas”, that “technology is never neutral” and “the design, deployment and use of AI in agrifood systems must place the God-given dignity of each person at the center and set integral human development as the essential purpose.”
To fulfil this mission the international community and relevant stakeholders have a responsibility to govern AI in an ethical manner and establish adequate regulatory tools to uphold justice and avoid misuse, he continued.
Innovation needs to stay at the service of humanity
In the closing remarks at the end of the day’s sessions, Archbishop Balestrero insisted that the Church does not possess technical solutions to the challenges posed by AI. However, it can offer “a compass” for “navigating the moral and technological complexities before us” by providing wisdom on the centrality of the human person.
“The ‘true north’ to which this compass points is the protection and promotion of the inherent, God-given dignity of every human person, in every sphere of life,” he said.
“Placing the human person at the core of policy discussions on Artificial Intelligence is not an impediment to innovation,” he emphasized. “On the contrary, it is what allows innovation to remain genuinely at the service of humanity and to pursue purposes worthy of the human person.”
“If a farmer is reduced merely to a data point, or a rural community considered simply as a dataset, then we must ask whether progress is truly achieved,” he said, while welcoming the stories that were shared during the event on how digital technologies can serve the common good and foster integral development.
“The ultimate test of ‘intelligent technology’ is not how far its power extends but how faithfully it serves the human person and the common good,” Archbishop Balestrero concluded.
“Its finest achievement will be when the fruits of progress reach every household and community, and when no one goes to bed hungry.”
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