Pope: Church’s social teaching
can help AI serve the common good
 |
| Arobot equipped with artificial intelligence (REUTERS) |
Pope Francis sent a message to participants in a workshop
titled, "The 'Good' Algorithm? Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Law,
Health", organized by the Pontifical Academy for Life in the Vatican,
February, 26-28.
By Robin Gomes
In the newly emerging discipline of “the ethical development
of algorithms” or more simply “algor-ethics”, a critical contribution can be
made by the principles of the Church’s social teaching, namely the dignity of
the person, justice, subsidiarity and solidarity.
The Pope made the remark on Friday in a message that was
read to participants in a workshop titled, "The 'Good' Algorithm?
Artificial Intelligence: Ethics, Law, Health", organized by the Pontifical
Academy for Life in the Vatican, February, 26-28.
The Holy Father was scheduled to address the group but
because of a “slight indisposition”, he postponed all of Friday’s official
audiences outside Casa Santa Marta, where he resides.
Ethical framework and human rights
In his message, the Pope noted that the complexity of the
technological world demands of us an increasingly clear ethical framework, so
as to make our commitment to serving every individual in his or her integrity
and of all people, without discrimination or exclusion, truly effective.
Algor-ethics, he pointed out, can be a bridge enabling those
principles to enter concretely into digital technologies through effective
cross-disciplinary dialogue. He, however, stressed that in the
encounter between different visions of the world, human rights are an important
point of convergence in the search for common ground.
The “good algorithm”, he said, points to the need for
renewed reflection on rights and duties in this area.
Pope Francis expressed appreciation for their “Call” at the
end of the workshop, saying it is “an important step in this direction, with
its three fundamental coordinates along which to journey: ethics, education and
law.
Challenges and dangers
The scope and acceleration of the transformations of the
digital era, the Pope said, have in fact raised unforeseen problems and
situations that challenge our individual and collective ethos.
On the personal level, the digital age is changing our
perception of space, of time and of the body, and on the socio-economic level,
users are often reduced to “consumers”, prey to private interests concentrated
in the hands of a few. Algorithms now extract data that enable
mental and relational habits to be controlled, for commercial or political
ends, frequently without our knowledge.
The asymmetry, by which a select few know everything about
us while we know nothing about them, the Pope said, dulls critical thought and
the conscious exercise of freedom. He also lamented the inequalities that
are expanding enormously with knowledge and wealth accumulate in a few hands
with grave risks for democratic societies.
Potential of new technologies
However, these dangers, the Pope said, must not detract us
from the immense potential that new technologies offer. Broader
educational effort and solid reasons need to be developed in the pursuit of the
common good, even when no immediate advantage is apparent.
As believers, the Pope said, we ought to allow ourselves to
be challenged, so that the word of God and our faith tradition can help us
interpret the phenomena of our world and identify paths of humanization.
At the conclusion of the Vatican workshop on Friday, the
Pontifical Academy for Life, Microsoft, IBM, the United Nations Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Italian government signed the “Call for
an AI Ethics”, a document developed to support an ethical approach to
Artificial Intelligence and promote a sense of responsibility among
organizations, governments and institutions with the aim to create a future in
which digital innovation and technological progress serve human genius and
creativity and not their gradual replacement.
At the conclusion of the Vatican workshop, the Pontifical
Academy for Life, Microsoft, IBM, the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the Italian government signed the “Call for an AI
Ethics”, a document developed to support an ethical approach to Artificial
Intelligence and promote a sense of responsibility among organizations,
governments and institutions with the aim to create a future in which digital
innovation and technological progress serve human genius and creativity and not
their gradual replacement.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét