In his recent encyclical on protecting human dignity in the age of AI, Pope Leo XIV called for the disarmament of AI, if it is to be an innovation that truly leads to the flourishing of humanity. While it is clear that there are many potential goods which the use of AI may help bring about, there are legitimate and grave concerns about the ethics of both AI development and AI deployment or use. Working under the basic moral principle that the end never justifies the means, there is a clear need to pause development and assess the situation. Calls for this from religious leaders, civic leaders, and scholars are important, but they may not be effective in attracting the attention of those who are heavily invested in the development of AI systems. A widespread boycott of the use of public and corporate AI systems would likely garner such attention and bring about much needed dialogue. This petition is a call for just this plan of action. Sign your name if you agree with the statement below. 

We the undersigned, 

in view of both the real and the potential dangers to humanity posed by AI systems, in view of the lack of safeguards and regulation pertaining to AI development and deployment, in view of serious concerns about transparency and accountability regarding AI systems and those who control them, in view of serious concerns about the concentration of power into the hands of those who develop and maintain AI systems, in view of serious concerns about the environmental impact of AI infrastructure, in view of serious concerns about the level of investment in AI systems relative to real global need, in view of the threat to human dignity posed by AI systems and the use of these systems, and in view of the possibility that any use of AI systems implicates the user in immorality and injustice,

call on all people of good will to abstain voluntarily from the use of AI systems and to divest from AI ventures, as far as this is possible for each person, until the above concerns are addressed and until it can be known that the use of AI is not an inherently disordered and therefore immoral act.