VATICAN CITY, Holy See (AFP) — Pope Leo XVI on Tuesday called on the world to protect human “dignity” online as it faces the “challenge” of artificial intelligence (AI), at the Vatican’s first mass for Catholic influencers.

He was speaking as thousands of young Catholics are in Rome this week for the Vatican’s Jubilee of Youth — an event that takes place every 25 years — and as the Catholic Church tries to promote its message online amid a fall in church attendance.

“Nothing that comes from man and his creativity should be used to undermine the dignity of others,” Leo told young Catholic social media figures at a mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

He called on the world to protect “our ability to listen and speak” in the “new era” of artificial intelligence.

The Vatican is holding a two-day event bringing together what it calls “digital missionaries and Catholic influencers” from around the world in a bid to promote its presence online.

It is the first time the centuries-old institution is holding such an event.

He also called on Catholic social media influencers to convince others to create content that will “entail seeking out those who suffer and need to know the Lord”.

Since taking over the papacy in May, the pope — an American mathematics graduate — has repeatedly warned about the dangers of AI for young people.