VATICAN — The Vatican announced today the creation of the first AI cardinal as a means of dealing with the current situation in the Middle East. “We are proud to announce Cardinal LaMachina, as the one who will broker peace in Iran,” the Vatican announced in a statement.

“The Holy Father didn’t think that any human cardinal was capable of these negotiations,” said Vatican Spokesman Mateo Bruni. He continued to explain that “no cardinal actually speaks the language of the Iranians. What is it again? Kurdish? Arabic? Swahili? I don’t know.”

Reporters were quick to ask Bruni about the implications of an AI cardinal. “We are only making him cardinal for a little bit, and then when the war is over, we will shut down the server.”

Critics say that this parameter will only incentivize the AI to keep the war going. Bruni responded to this saying, “we have seen no evidence that the AI desires anything but peace.”

When asked about difficulties in development of the AI, Bruni said, “The most difficult issue has been trying to keep him on task. He keeps scrubbing through profiles of the various cardinals of the college, researching past conclaves, and oddly enough, researching Taylor Swift albums. He’s missing the main point about being an emissary for the Vatican.”

Leo plans to give the computer a red hat at the next consistory.