18 hours ago
Pope Leo XIV Urges Tech Executives to Come Up With an Ethical AI Framework
Pope Leo XIV, who took over leadership of the Catholic Church in May, is revealing one area that he'll be focusing on: artificial intelligence. The Pope has called for tech companies to develop a "superior ethical criterion" against which AI should be evaluated. This message was delivered to tech leaders, including leaders from Google, Meta, OpenAI, and IBM, attending the second annual conference on AI and its ethics in Rome.
The framework the Pope is asking for would ensure that AI takes "into account the well-being of the human person not only materially, but also intellectually and spiritually." In the Friday message, the Pope also points to AI's unprecedented and rapid access to information as potentially impacting children's development the most.
"Our youth," he said, "must be helped, and not hindered, in their journey towards maturity and true responsibility."
This isn't the first time the Pope has discussed AI; he mentioned it in his first papal address in May. He also recently spoke of the challenges that "call into question respect for the dignity of the human person" in a speech to Italian bishops. Artificial intelligence, biotechnologies, the data economy and social media were all included in that speech.
He's not condemning AI outright. There is potential for good, he noted, saying that if used right, AI could "promote greater equality." However, the Pope notes that AI also offers the possibility of "misuse for selfish gain" to "foment conflict and aggression."
The Vatican doesn't have any regulatory power, but that hasn't stopped it from being vocal about the ethics of AI. In 2020, the Vatican created the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document about the ethical considerations of AI algorithms. IBM, Qualcomm and Microsoft all signed on, agreeing to abide by the principles. The Pope's firm stance on AI is similar to that of his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, who urged that AI be used only to benefit humanity.
