Pope's AI adviser warns Australia's copyright changes risk 'new form of colonialism'

Father Paolo Benanti, the Vatican’s principal strategist on artificial intelligence, has issued a stark warning to the Commonwealth, asserting that proposed modifications to Australian copyright laws could inadvertently facilitate a “new form of colonialism” by global tech giants. Speaking on the ethical imperatives of the digital age, the Franciscan friar suggested that stripping creators of their intellectual property rights to fuel generative AI models risks marginalised local voices in favour of a centralised Silicon Valley hegemony.

The debate centres on whether AI firms should be granted free access to copyrighted material for training purposes, a move the Australian government is currently scrutinising to ensure the nation remains competitive. Benanti argues that data is the “new raw material” of the century, and allowing its unfettered extraction without equitable compensation mirrors historical patterns of exploitation where resources were drained from local communities to enrich distant powers.

“When we allow the intellectual output of a nation to be harvested without consent, we are not fostering innovation; we are sanctioning a digital enclosure of the common mind.”

As the Albanese government weighs these significant legislative shifts, the intersection of theology and technology highlights a growing global anxiety over digital sovereignty. The outcome of this policy debate will likely determine whether Australia sets a precedent for safeguarding its cultural heritage or becomes a subservient node in a globalised algorithmic infrastructure.