Attendees at the annual Group of Seven (G7) summit, which brings together leaders of some of the world’s most powerful democracies, are accustomed to rubbing shoulders with the likes of President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. This year, as they discuss climate change, immigration and economic security, they will be joined by a surprise guest: Pope Francis. The event, scheduled for June 13-15 in the Italian region of Puglia, will mark the first visit by the Pope.
Although the pontiff has no official status associated with heads of state, Francis’s influence previously used to express concern on climate change and the treatment of refugees — will allow him to advocate for regulation of artificial intelligence, a technology he calls potentially harmful. Francis, who was a chemist before entering the seminary, used his scientific background to communicate his position on political issues.
“The pope is not an engineer, but he is concerned about the social aspects and implications of AI,” Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and professor who previously worked with the Vatican on AI issues and holds a position on the UN AI. advisory body said CNN.
“Francis’s core approach focuses on what new technologies mean for our coexistence: what elements of AI are driving human inequality, as well as topics such as the spread of fake news in public spaces,” he added.
Francis’ work to address AI safety issues began in 2020 when he led Rome’s call to AI ethics, a set of principles for increasing transparency and accountability of artificial intelligence companies and their users. The Vatican, Microsoft and IBM signed an agreement. The pope is likely to reiterate concerns about AI regulation at a summit this week.
Italy, one of the permanent hosts of the summit, is paying more and more attention to artificial intelligence technologies and temporarily banned by ChatGPT in March 2023, becoming the first Western country to do so. Italian data protection regulator Garante said in January that the chatbot violated European Union privacy laws by exposing payment information and messages and allowing children to access inappropriate information.
“We want our AI to learn about the world, not about individuals,” OpenAI said in a statement at the time. “We actively work to reduce the amount of personal data when training our systems, such as ChatGPT, which also rejects requests for private or sensitive information about people.”
Pompous Pope with white down jackets
Francis knows first-hand about the potential pitfalls of AI. Last year his image wearing an all-white full-body puffer jacket with a large cross hanging from his neck, appeared online. Although it went viral and many believed it to be real, it was created using an artificial intelligence tool called Midjourney.
In January of this year, Francis acknowledged the images and issued a warning over AI, noting that “for once in history…. risks becoming rich in technology and poor in humanity.”
He argued that while AI can be useful in advancing scientific fields, it becomes dangerous when it is used to spread misinformation, including about individuals. “Our very bodies, created for communication and communication, can become a means of aggression,” Francis said.
This is not the only problem the Catholic Church has with AI. Catholic advocacy group Catholic Answers created an AI priest called “Father Justin” earlier this year. The chatbot was designed to help curious users learn about Catholicism. But the bot went too far, claiming that he was a member of the Catholic clergy and offering to confess. The “priest” was soon defrocked or ecclesiastical status after Futurism. reported on the bot and contacted the human rights group.
“We chose the character to convey a quality of knowledge and authority, and as a sign of the respect that all of us at Catholic Answers have for our clergy,” Catholic Answers President Christopher Check. wrote in the post. “However, many people have expressed concerns about this choice.”
The chatbot is now a “lay theologian” named Justin.