Vatican City, Nov 7, 2025 / 14:41 pm

The story of a mother whose son committed suicide after interacting with a chatbot moved participants at an AI conference in Rome on Friday, underscoring what Pope Leo XIV described earlier in the day as Catholics’ moral and spiritual responsibility for the development of artificial intelligence (AI).

An MIT researcher nearly broke down in tears as he recounted the experience of the woman, Megan Garcia, who herself took part in the conference and spoke there to experts in robotics and AI.

“I apologize for being so emotional because it is so emotional,” said Jose J. Pacheco, co-director of the MIT Advanced Manufacturing and Design Program, speaking at the Builders AI Forum at the Pontifical Gregorian University on Nov. 7. He said Garcia's story illust

See Full Page