Pope Francis has called for a ban on weapons that use artificial intelligence to select and hit targets, saying important decisions must always be left to humans.

The pope was speaking on Friday at an outreach session on AI at the Group of Seven Summit in Italy. He is the first pontiff to attend the G7 gathering.

The pope said AI could enable the exponential advancement of scientific research, but could also cause "greater injustice between advanced and developing nations or between dominant and oppressed social classes."

He went on to warn that humans could lose the ability to make decisions about themselves by depending too much on the choices of machines.

He said, "We should be very clear that decision making, even when we are confronted with its sometimes dramatic and urgent aspects, must always be left to the human person."

The pope said that in this regard, it is urgent to reconsider the development and use of "lethal autonomous weapons" and ultimately ban their use.

Pope Francis has been outspoken about AI. In particular, he has expressed strong concern over the use of the technology for military purposes.