SkyNews reportsedthe Pope´s call for robust regulation of artificial intelligence. In his first encyclical, the holy father urged governments to slow down and more closely regulate the development of AI, warning that it can spread misinformation, prioritise conflict and risk, and lead the world down the path of unending war.
The text, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), focuses on the use of AI and its implications. He says it is “not permissible” to entrust irreversible, lethal decisions to AI systems.
Pope Leo warned that AI, and technology in general, “is not neutral, because it takes on the character of those who conceive it, finance it, regulate it, and use it.” Likewise, he warned that the “greatness of the human person” cannot be compromised by the “technocratic paradigm” that “seeks to reduce everything to an object of domination” in a “globalised world” marked by the “logic of efficiency, control and profit”.
“Artificial Intelligence now demands to be disarmed, freed from logics that turn it into an instrument of domination, exclusion and death,” he added. During a Vatican event presenting the text he warned that some autonomous weapons systems have advanced “practically beyond any human reach to govern them”, because of AI,
And he invoked Tolkien’s ‘Lord Of The Rings’ character Gandalf as he urged people to do their part to build a “civilisation of love” amid the threat of AI.
Read the story here in Sky News.
Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, reported that the Pope’s timing aligns well with that of the Spanish government, as the Council of Ministers has just approved a draft Law for the Proper Use and Governance of AI here in Spain, with the aim of promoting its “ethical, inclusive, and beneficial” use and enabling users to clearly distinguish real from virtual content. The Ministry for Digital Transformation has made clear its commitment to “trustworthy AI that respects fundamental rights and provides special protection for the most vulnerable, such as minors.”
See the El Mundo article (in Spanish) here.