VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has warned diplomats, bankers and tech company executives that the race to create artificial intelligence and other forms of digital development pose the risk of increasing social inequality unless the work is accompanied by an ethical evaluation of the common good.

Francis addressed a Vatican conference on Friday that brought government envoys and Facebook and Google representatives together with philosophers, physicists and ethicists. A smattering of academics and Catholic bishops rounded out the participants at "The Common Good in the Digital Age" conference.

The three-day gathering is the latest evidence of the Vatican wanting a place in the debate over the prospects and perils of artificial intelligence and that key decision-makers are seeking its views on the topic.