April 27 (UPI) — Pope Francis will attend the upcoming G7 conference in Italy, a session dedicated to artificial intelligence, where he will speak about the importance of ethics in the burgeoning world of AI, the Vatican says.
Francis will serve as a speaker at the G7 summit, which is scheduled to take place in Borgo Egnazia, in Italy’s southern Puglia region, between June 13 and 15, the Vatican said. confirmed in a press release on Friday.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni preempted the Vatican statement, publicly confirming Francis’ presence at a meeting video statement released Friday.
“Pope Francis will participate in the work of the G7 precisely in the session dedicated to artificial intelligence,” she said.
Francis will become the first pope in history to attend a G7 summit.
This 87-year-old man has long campaigned for ethical AI. Last December, the Pope asked for an affair international treaty regulating the development and advancement of artificial intelligence, warning that it could lead to a “technological dictatorship” if nothing is done to prevent it.
In 2020, the Pontifical Academy for Life registered as a stakeholder in the 2020 Rome Call for AI Ethics, alongside major technology players Microsoft and IBM. The Italian government’s goal is to promote an ethical approach to artificial intelligence.
“The G7 will face what many, rightly, consider to be the greatest anthropological challenge of our time, namely the advent of artificial intelligence, a technology that can generate great opportunities but which also brings enormous benefits as inevitably affecting global balances,” Meloni said in the video statement.
“This is a challenge that none of us can think of tackling alone and I believe that it is essential to promote the best of the ethical and intellectual reflection that is developing in this area,” she added. . “I warmly thank the Holy Father for accepting Italy’s invitation. His presence gives prestige to our nation, to the entire G7.”
