More than a dozen leaders of various Asian religions, including Buddhist, Sikh and Shinto groups, gathered at the Peace Park in Hiroshima, Japan, which was decimated by a U.S. nuclear attack in 1945.
Together, they signed a charter advocating for the ethical development and use of AI, with a focus on helping the world’s most disadvantaged communities. This initiative, conceived by the Vatican, builds on commitments made in 2020 by the Abrahamic traditions and major technology companies such as Microsoft, IBM and Cisco, which endorsed the Rome Call for AI Ethics.
At the G7 summit in Italy last month, Pope Francis delivered an unprecedented speech on the ethical concerns surrounding artificial intelligence, becoming the first pope to attend the summit. As artificial intelligence transforms industries globally, the benefits for society and the planet are immense.
However, its rapid adoption also poses significant risks to communities and businesses. Addressing risks such as AI-related hallucinations, bias, discrimination, misinformation, and inaccuracies is critical at this stage where the opportunities and potential consequences are numerous.
The Rome Call for AI Ethics includes 3 impact areas (ethics, education, and rights) and 6 principles (transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, trustworthiness, security, and privacy), all of which require that artificial intelligence be developed “according to ethical principles to ensure that it serves the good of humanity,” taking into account concerns about the impact on war, elections, and employment. These guiding frameworks help scientists, developers, and data scientists build AI systems ethically for the benefit of society.
The signatories agreed that AI systems “must not discriminate against anyone” and that there must always be someone to take responsibility for what a machine does. Systems must be reliable, secure, easy to understand and “must not track or create bias.”
At the conclusion of the two-day forum on the topic, the president of the World Fellowship of Buddhists, leaders of Shinto sects, and the secretary general of the Baha’i International Community, among others, signed the appeal. At the signing, Bhai Sahib Mohinder Singh said at the ceremony that the Rome Call for AI Ethics “provides a much-needed global moral check” and that AI “should never, ever exploit or destroy God’s creation, it should only seek to enhance and flourish it.”
The leading technology leaders in attendance saw the application of the Rome Call principles to the reality of the technological world and the shared responsibility of AI producers. “Hiroshima, which occupies an important place in human history, provides a compelling backdrop for ensuring that technology created by humanity serves all of humanity and our common home,” said Brad Smith, corporate vice president and president of Microsoft and one of the original signatories of the Call.
Among the many distinguished speakers who enriched the event by bringing multiple perspectives on the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence, was the opening address by Amandeep Singh Gill, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy for Technology, who said: “The Rome Call for AI Ethics embodies the spirit needed for global AI governance.
“This call comes at a crucial time, ahead of the Future Summit, and brings together diverse faith perspectives in a shared vision of ethical and human-centered AI. It is in line with the United Nations Secretary-General’s efforts to ensure that AI governance is global, inclusive and dedicated to promoting peace and human dignity for all.”
A minute of silence was observed at the ruins of a domed building that stands in memory of the 140,000 people killed in the atomic bombing at the end of World War II. After a testimony from an atomic bomb survivor, participants walked to the memorial park, visited the cenotaph and laid wreaths in memory of the victims. They then made their way to the ceremony site, passing the Light of Peace and the Atomic Bomb Children Statue.
Researchers at the University of Oxford’s AI Ethics Institute separately called the issue “urgent and important” and said that “every day brings new examples of the ethical challenges posed by AI, from facial recognition to voter profiling, from brain-machine interfaces to militarized drones, and the ongoing discourse about how AI will impact employment globally.”
