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Even the Vatican has something to say about artificial intelligence.
In a first, the Roman Catholic Church has endorsed a new handbook on digitalization and its effects on culture.
“I am struck by the desire of the tech industry to do good,” said Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary emeritus of the Vatican dicastery, or department, for culture and education, in an interview with MarketWatch. “There is a recognition to be more attentive” to its impact, he said.
“Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap,” a handbook for enterprise action around technology and AI, is the result of a collaboration between the Vatican and the Institute for Technology, Ethics and Culture at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, along with several major tech companies.
“Ethics is more important than technology,” Ann Skeet, a co-author of the handbook and senior director of leadership ethics at the Markkula Center, said in an interview. “It is very encouraging to see consensus from the industry on responsible AI, but they have yet to determine how they will reach it.”
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Skeet and two co-authors worked on the handbook for five years, with input from Microsoft Corp.
MSFT,
Salesforce Inc.
CRM,
International Business Machines Corp.
IBM,
and other companies, along with governments and AI critics.
Bishop Paul Tighe, at center, and Pope Francis with an audience of tech-industry representatives in March.
The Dicastery for Culture and Education
Tighe said the dicastery, which describes itself as fostering “relations between the Holy See and the realm of human culture,” approached the Markkula Center in 2019 because the Vatican was interested in implementing Pope Francis’s vision for ensuring that AI is “used for good.”
“The Vatican is not monolithic,” Tighe said. “We want to ensure all technology will somehow remain at the service of humanity, as well as celebrate the potential of technology.”
The question, however, is how corporations and individuals can embed ethical behavior in their work. Some 90% of business leaders are concerned about ethical standards but don’t have a framework to address the topic, according to a Deloitte study.
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Enterprises and tech companies have been stung by a series of antitrust investigations and lawsuits brought by federal and state governments stemming from the breakneck pace of innovation over the past two decades. Search engines, social-media platforms and online stores have gotten into regulatory hot water due to their unbridled growth and its unintended effects on culture, including the 2016 U.S. presidential election.
President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, announced separate actions last week on the responsible use of AI with the goal of preventing damage to jobs, civil rights and information.
Read more: AI could further an ‘erosion of the middle class’ unless Congress takes action, Schumer says
But some wonder if the attempts by the federal government, tech companies and academic researchers to get ahead of the problem are largely ceremonial exercises.
“It is great that government is acting on AI after playing catch-up on crypto, [special purpose acquisition companies] and social media,” said Cathy Benko, a representative of the tech industry and a Nike Inc.
NKE,
board member, who is also a member of the Markkula Center advisory board. “The intention is great, but actions are what matter.”
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