New Delhi: Videos of hundreds of produced sermons by newly elected Pope Leo XIV have gone viral on social media platforms. These deep fakes include speeches and claims that the Pope never made, causing confusion among religious communities.
The AI-generated videos were so trustworthy that many users mistake them for real pontifical communication, gaining millions of views online. The video utilizes AI tools that can mimic Pope Leo's voice and gestures with eerie accuracy.
Several clips showed the Pope dealing with a controversial topic and making statements in contrast to the official Vatican position.
Accounts that post AI-generated messages delivered in the Pope's Voice, or accounts arising from him, have been identified and reported on the platform, and most of these accounts are prohibited.
With names like “The Vision of Pope Leo XIV” and “The Sermon of Pope Leo XIV,” these channels unleash content that warns Catholics and spreads false teaching. The video warned of non-existent threats to Christians and preached false teachings. Some videos were entitled “Big Warning for All Christians”, “The Pope's Warning, Beware”, and “Wake Up Christians: Family Are Under Spiritual Attack.”
Oren Etzioni, founder of Truemedia.org, a nonprofit that focuses on the fight against deepfakes, said, “There's a natural interest in what the new Pope has to say, and people still don't know his stance and style.”
The manipulated sermons and speeches highlight how hoaxes created using AI can escape detection.
However, this is not the first time Pope Leo XIV has been targeted using AI.
The issue comes into view last month after another deep fake video of the Pope went viral. In this video, an controlled video of Pope Leo praises Burkina Faso's military leader, Ibrahim Traore.
The viral social media post shared a video of the Pope reading a speech in response to a letter from Ibrahim Traore, but the claims are false as the original video was from the Pope's first official press conference and the message changed. This was followed by the Vatican news website with a warning to the public that the video was fake and that all speeches delivered by the Pope are available on the Vatican website.
Another time, a change in the Pope's clip became a virus that could be heard criticizing Vice President J.D. Vance, but this clip was also exposed.
