Fake Pope Leo XIV: Coming soon to YouTube?

Consider all the fake Caitlin Clark news. Yes, the pope has reason to worry about AI

Every time that I turn on YouTube to check the channels that I follow, it’s impossible to miss the growing spectre of AI junk.

Let’s say that you are interested in the controversies swirling around superstar Caitlin Clark and the WNBA leadership’s attempts to figure out (Welcome to red v. blue America) how to minimize the impact of her massive fanbase on their league. Clark v. Nike is another popular topic for gossip, mixed with tiny amounts of real news.

Look at the tsunami of YouTube “channels” trying to cash in on Clark-mania! The fact that ESPN offers a modest amount of Clark content (Damn the ratings! Slow speed ahead!) has left the door open for all kinds “people” to fill the gap.

How real are many or even most of these channels? How good is your ear for AI grammar, repeated phrases and those all-to-familiar generic voices? It’s never good when the image promoting the video comes from a mainstream, legit source of sports personality, but the name of the channel is some unknown commentator or alleged news source.

Why lead with Caitlin Clark in a post about Pope Leo XIV and AI? I mean, Clark is a Catholic but, so far, I haven’t seen any digitally manufactured footage of her playing HORSE with the pope or her handing him a pair of her Kobe sneakers from Nike.

Like I said, SO FAR.

But some of the trends that are shaping “news” and online debates about Clark and other celebrities may soon affect what people think and believe about Pope Leo XIV.

Why? Truth is, YouTube and other channels of alternative content are playing a larger and larger role in public discourse. Did Donald Trump’s appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” have a major impact on the 2024 election? (#DUH)

Thus, what happens to YouTube commerce now affects public discourse in America and around the world. And it’s clear that AI is already playing a big role in that drama.

Now, if you wonder about AI’s impact on the finances and content of YouTube, please check out this recent Gothic Therapy feature: “YouTube Killed the Views.” The big question: What if AI experts found a way to create AI programs that pointed fake viewers toward AI YouTube channels — thus stealing millions of dollars from advertisers? How would that affect the economics of the real channels that offer interesting, alternative voices and content about the news?

Now, let’s connect that AI thread with the other topic for today.

I have to admit that my 2025 religion-news bingo card didn’t include controversies about fake statements, images and even videos about the new man in the Chair of Saint Peter. Sooner or later, much of that is going to reach YouTube.

Some of this material may be post-Pope Francis culture wars in Catholic cyberspace, with camps of believers creating hot-button videos that seem to echo that classic “Won’t Get Fooled Again” lyric from The Who: “Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.”

However, I’m not — for the most part — talking about the many new sources of Catholic commentary and advocacy news. I am interested in the potential impact of truly fake content about the new pope, pushed out to ride the online wave of interest in his life and worldview.

Every since his first day in office, Pope Leo XIV — who is a mathematician — has made it clear that he is highly concerned about the impact AI is having on culture, business, education, etc. The future of this new digital revolution? It will almost certainly be as significant as the industrial revolution that shaped the work of Pope Leo XIII.

Anyway, the new pope’s early AI remarks may have waved a red flag in front of the digital bulls.

This leads us to an important feature from The Pillar that I have been pondering ever since it was posted in late June. The headline: “How to spot a fake Pope Leo XIV.” Here’s the overture:

A post appeared on the Vatican’s Instagram account Wednesday with the title “FAKE ALERT — PETER’S PENCE.”

A graphic accompanying the June 25 post explained that “fake Facebook profiles of ‘Pope Leo XIV’ are circulating, asking for donations.” The post stressed there is no official Facebook page for Pope Leo and the only way to donate securely to the Peter’s Pence fund is via its website.

Since the May 8 election of the first U.S.-born pope, the internet has been awash with false reports, fake videos, and money-making scams exploiting the global spotlight on Leo XIV.

Much of this is not especially new. In 2012, an Italian hoaxer called Tommaso De Benedetti convinced some twitter.com users that Pope Benedict XVI had died, employing a fake profile attributed to the then-Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The team at The Pillar (credit where credit is due) noted that the technology has changed — big time — since a fake 2016 story with this headline: “Pope Francis shocks world, endorses Donald Trump.”

Jumping into the recent past, I have to admit that I missed this next one. Let’s return to The Pillar text — with two crucial URL links (I added bold italics text to make those easier to spot):

In a video posted to Instagram May 28, “Pope Leo XIV” made a bold foray into U.S. politics, appearing to berate Vice President JD Vance’s “cold, calculated” response to former president Joe Biden’s cancer diagnosis.

The voice sounded similar to that of Pope Leo, with its smooth timbre and Midwestern cadence. But it was fake. Most likely, it was created using an off-the-shelf AI tool that reworked a genuine sample of the pope’s voice to produce a synthetic version.

In this feature, The Pillar team walked readers through several steps of analysis that will help news consumers judge the validity of some recent headlines in social media. Here are three examples: “Pope Leo XIV official Facebook pages,” “Pope Leo falls down stairs” and “Pope Leo says: ‘Be woke’.”

Clearly, material linked to a fake papal Facebook helped inspire that “FAKE ALERT — PETER’S PENCE” warning on the Vatican’s Instagram page.

The best way to see what The Pillar is doing is to look at the full text of its analysis of another one of those fake headlines. This is long, but essential:

❌ Pope Leo rebukes JD Vance

Why it went viral Staying with the JD Vance Instagram post, let’s consider why it hooked so many people. Shortly after Leo XIV’s election, media reported on the (genuine) Twitter account the pope had used since 2011, when he was superior general of the Augustinian order.

In February this year, the now-pope had shared an article entitled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others” — a reference to the debate launched by the Vice President’s comments about the ordo amoris.

The fake video therefore built on a pre-existing idea — that Pope Leo is critical of JD Vance — and added a novel twist.

What were its flaws? Although the video captured many of the pope’s vocal mannerisms, it wasn’t a perfect reproduction. The pace was slightly faster than that of the real Leo XIV. The audio addressed the vice president abruptly as “Vance,” when Pope Leo would surely have referred to him as “Mr. Vance.” In the accompanying visuals, the pope was reading from a prepared text, but his lips aren’t synced to the words. The video’s creator crudely sought to distract from this by imposing a speech bubble over much of the pope’s mouth.

How could you verify it? Apart from carefully examining the video’s sound and appearance, you could check whether there were reports about the pope’s alleged comments on reputable websites. If Leo XIV attacked JD Vance by name in a speech, reports would likely appear quickly on news wires such as apnews.com and reuters.com as “alerts,” followed by detailed stories. You would also expect the incident to be mentioned in some form on the Vatican’s news portal, vaticannews.va. A search on twitter.com should also turn up reports from verified outlets. If those checks came up blank, you could be 99% confident it was fake.

What rules can we deduce? 1) Be skeptical of any item linking Pope Leo to an individual politician; 2) Check if audio and visuals are in sync, paying attention to the lips; 3) Cross-check on news sites.

Similar examples: A 36-minute video appearing to show Pope Leo praising Burkina Faso’s President Ibrahim Traoré; A TikTok video claiming that Leo XIV had urged Peru’s President Dina Boluarte to step down.

Now, I hope that readers — in the comments pages — will offer examples of other shady Pope Leo XIV videos that have surfaced on mainstream social-media platforms — such as YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram. At this point, we won’t attempt to deal with the dangers lurking in the corners of The Dark Web.

Catholic readers (and others): Are you hearing people talk about what Pope Leo XIV is or is not saying on controversial issues, especially those linked to politics and hot-button liturgical issues. Take a look at this online search for “Pope Leo XIV,” “Latin Mass.”

What are you seeing online? What are the new sources of information that you trust?

Please let me know.