Pope warns about downside of artificial intelligence

Pope Francis warned of the negative impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) on the fabric of society during a visit to Singapore on Thursday.

During a reception in the high-tech city-state, the head of the Catholic Church warned that AI should not make people forget about what is important - human relationships.

Technology developments risk isolating individuals and putting them into a false reality, he said.

Instead, AI should be used to bring people closer together and to promote understanding and solidarity within society, the pope added.

Pope Francis had also called on the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial democracies at this year's G7 summit held in June in Italy, to ensure that AI is not left unchecked.

Singapore is the final stop of the 87-year-old pontiff's longest foreign trip to date, lasting a total of 12 days.

Prior to this, he had visited Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and East Timor.

A large mass in a sports stadium is expected to attract about 50,000 people in the afternoon.

According to the Vatican, out of the nearly 6 million residents of the city-state, only 176,000 are Catholic. The majority of the population has Chinese roots.

Pope Francis will fly back to Rome on Friday.