TL;DR:
- Pope Francis calls for an international treaty to regulate artificial intelligence, emphasizing ethical development.
- He warns against the risks of AI lacking human values like compassion, mercy, morality, and forgiveness.
- The call comes after an AI-generated image of the Pope went viral, highlighting the rapid spread of deepfake technology.
- European Union negotiators recently secured provisional approval for comprehensive AI rules.
- AI’s rapid advancements have raised concerns about job displacement, privacy, and copyright protection.
- Pope Francis emphasizes the need for AI development to align with fundamental human rights and peace.
- He advocates for human oversight of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) and warns against automated systems categorizing citizens.
- Pope Francis argues that technology companies cannot be trusted to self-regulate.
- Experts note convergence on ethical issues in EU regulation and the US executive order on AI.
Main AI News:
In a move echoing growing concerns over the ethical implications of artificial intelligence (AI), Pope Francis has called for an international treaty to ensure that AI is developed and used with compassion, mercy, morality, and forgiveness in mind. The Pope delivered this message as part of his annual address for the World Day of Peace, a significant event for the Catholic Church held each January 1st. The Vatican released the text of the message on Thursday.
For Pope Francis, this appeal carries a personal dimension, as earlier in the year, an AI-generated image of him wearing an opulent white puffer jacket went viral, highlighting the rapid spread of realistic deepfake imagery on the internet. “In the quest for absolute freedom, we risk falling into the spiral of a ‘technological dictatorship,'” he emphasized.
This call for global regulation comes shortly after European Union negotiators secured provisional approval for the world’s first comprehensive AI rules, which are poised to serve as a benchmark for governments considering their own AI regulation. While AI has captivated the world with impressive advancements, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which can produce human-like text, photos, and songs, it has also stirred concerns about job displacement, privacy issues, copyright protection, and even threats to human life itself.
Pope Francis acknowledged the potential of AI and commended technological progress as an expression of human intelligence’s creativity, echoing a message previously conveyed by the Vatican at this year’s UN General Assembly, where global leaders discussed both the promises and perils of AI.
However, in his latest message, Pope Francis delved deeper into the existential concerns raised by ethicists and human rights advocates regarding AI’s transformative impact on everyday life, from democratic processes to art. Cardinal Michael Czerny of the Vatican’s development office, who introduced the message, emphasized, “Artificial intelligence may well represent the highest-stakes gamble of our future. If it turns out badly, humanity is to blame.”
The document underscored the necessity of AI development aligning with fundamental human rights, promoting peace, and guarding against disinformation, discrimination, and distortion. Pope Francis expressed particular concern about AI’s use in the armaments sector, where he stressed the importance of human oversight over Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) to prevent the escalation of warfare.
Pope Francis also warned against the far-reaching consequences of automated systems that categorize or rank citizens, impacting job opportunities, asylum requests, and even recidivism predictions for individuals with prior convictions. He asserted, “Algorithms must not be allowed to determine how we understand human rights or set aside essential human values of compassion, mercy, and forgiveness.”
This issue aligns with Pope Francis’s priorities, as he has consistently advocated against social injustices, supported migrants, and ministered to marginalized populations. The Pope’s message did not delve into specific details of a binding treaty but emphasized the need for global negotiations to establish best practices and prevent harmful ones. He argued that technology companies alone cannot be trusted to regulate themselves, drawing parallels to his previous criticisms of multinationals exploiting Earth’s natural resources and oppressing Indigenous peoples.
Barbara Caputo, a professor at the Turin Polytechnic University’s Artificial Intelligence Hub, pointed out that there is already a convergence on fundamental ethical issues and definitions in both the EU’s regulation and the executive order unveiled by US President Joe Biden in October, marking a significant step towards common global AI regulation.
Conclusion:
Pope Francis’s call for a global AI treaty underscores the increasing importance of ethical considerations in AI development and use. This push for regulation and ethical standards in the AI sector will likely prompt greater scrutiny and accountability among AI companies, potentially leading to more responsible and transparent AI practices in the market. Companies will need to prioritize ethical AI development to align with evolving global regulations and public expectations.
