0Pope Francis on Thursday proposed the formulation of an international contract to ensure that the development and usage of artificial intelligence AI abide by ethical guidelines. He highlighted the potential risks posed by technology that doesn't incorporate human values such as compassion, mercy, morality, and forgiveness.
Earlier this year, his image was manipulated by AI technology creating a viral photo of him wearing an expensive white puffer jacket, hence, his personal interest in this matter. This proposal was made in his yearly speech for the World Day of Peace, a day traditionally celebrated by the Catholic Church on January 1st.
In his message, Francis addressed the rapidly increasing support for the need for a formal, global command of AI, days after the European Union provisionally approved the world's first comprehensive AI rules, setting a regulatory benchmark for global governments.
Intelligent systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT have garnered worldwide attention over the past year due to their remarkable capabilities, however, the potential threats these advanced technologies could impose on job security, privacy, copyright protections, and human life have raised concerns.
The use of AI in the weapons sector is a cause for major concern, according to Francis. He emphasized that the unique human ability to make moral judgments and ethical decisions goes beyond being reduced to complex algorithms that can be encoded into a machine.
He detailed the negative domino effect that automated systems that categorize or rank humans could have on society, pointing out the possible implications such systems may have on an individual’s credit rating, migrants' political asylum rights or on a convicted criminal's potential to reoffend.
Francis went on to say that multinational companies that exploit natural resources and impoverish indigenous populations cannot be trusted to govern themselves in the technology space. He concluded by stating that the duties and ethical implications of AI extend beyond profit and power.
