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STORY: The head of one of the oldest institutions on earth on Friday issued a warning about the future.

Pope Francis told G7 leaders that artificial intelligence must never gain the upper hand over humanity.

He said AI represented an "epochal transformation" for mankind.

"We would condemn humanity to a hopeless future if we took away people's ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives by condemning them to depend on the choices of machines."

Pope Francis is the first pontiff to address a Group of Seven summit.

The G7 draws together the leaders of the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Japan.

In addition, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the summit host, invited 10 other nations to join the talks on Friday, including the prime minister of India and presidents of Turkey and Kenya.

The 87-year-old pontiff was warmly embraced as he was pushed in a wheelchair around the conference table.

Ahead of his speech - Francis was warmly enveloped by a fellow Argentine, President Javier Milei.

He received a hug from Jordan's King Abdullah, a kiss from Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and had a long, whispered conversation with U.S. President Joe Biden.

In his remarks, he said that AI risked undermining human dignity, and, in particular, condemned its use in warfare.

Referring to what he called "lethal autonomous weapons," he urged leaders to ban their use, saying "no machine should ever choose whether to take the life of a human being."

In a draft of their closing statement, the G7 on Friday said they would draw up a plan to anticipate future skills and education needs to take advantage of the pending AI revolution.