On the fifth day of his Africa tour – and his third in Cameroon – the Pope also visited the St Paul Catholic Hospital in Douala.
And in the capital, Yaounde, he gave a speech at the Catholic University of Central Africa, in which he spoke about AI’s role in bringing about a “transformation in our very relationship with the truth”.
He said that when simulation became normal, people lost touch with reality.
“We come to live in bubbles, impermeable to one another,” he said.
“Feeling threatened by anyone who is different, we grow unaccustomed to encounters and dialogue. In this way polarisation, conflict, fear and violence spread.”
The Pope also condemned the “relentless pursuit of raw material and rare earths” – metals, such as cobalt, that are heavily mined in Africa and are widely used in electronics, making them necessary for the AI boom.
