Experts explain the pontiff’s appeal as the most recent AI images of Francis, with the singer Madonna, go viral

For the pope, it was the wrong kind of madonna.

The pop legend, she of the 80’s anthem Like a Prayer, has stirred controversy in recent weeks by posting deepfake images on social media which show the pontiff embracing her. It has fanned the flames of a debate which is already raging over the creation of AI art in which Pope Francis plays a symbolic, and unwilling, role.