CNN
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An image of Pope Francis wearing a stylish white puffer jacket went viral last year, sparking a wave of comments about his choice of clothing and even questions about whether he had a stylist. But there was a problem: the the image was a “deep fake” created using artificial intelligence.
This week, the pope is set to make a historic intervention into the AI debate at the G7 summit in southern Italy’s Puglia region. On Friday, Francis will become the first pope to attend the summit of leaders of the world’s most advanced economies when he takes part in a session dedicated to AI. US President Joe Biden, a Catholic who has warm relations with Francis, is among the leaders expected at the gathering.
The 87-year-old pontiff is determined to use the soft power of his office to try to ensure that the development of AI serves humanity and does not turn into a 21st century Frankenstein’s monster.
For the Pope, who trained as a chemist in his youth, progress in science and technology is to be welcomed; he believes AI offers exciting new opportunities. But the pope also foresees serious risks.
In a message published late last year, he warned that a “technological dictatorship» could emerge if sufficient regulation was not put in place, highlighting the threats posed by AI-controlled weapon systems and the dangers that the technology could be misused for surveillance society and election interference . AI, the Pope believes, can only make the world a better place if it serves the “common good” and does not increase inequalities.
The Pope and the Vatican are pushing for an ethical framework to support the development and use of AI. Since 2020, the Pontifical Academy for the Life of the Vatican, an organization which advocates for Catholic moral teachings on bioethics have promoted “Rome Call for AI Ethics”, a document defining six principles of AI ethics, including transparency, inclusion, accountability and impartiality.
The Vatican is seeking buy-in from big tech companies and governments. So far the document has been signed by Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM) and Cisco Systems (CSCO), alongside the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the Italian Ministry of Innovation and numerous religious leaders.
At the G7 summit, the pope is expected to urge world leaders to work together on regulating AI, echoing his speech. call at the end of last year for a “binding international treaty” to prevent harmful practices and encourage better ones. European Union lawmakers has already passed a law regulating AIwhile a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has outlined plans for AI regulations that could lead to federal legislation.
“The pope is not an engineer, but he is concerned about the social aspects and the implications of AI,” Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and professor who has worked with the Vatican on the issue of AI, told CNN. AI. Benanti is also a member of a United Nations advisory body on AI. At the G7, he expects the pope to emphasize elements of his previous policies. messages on the subject.
“Francis’ fundamental approach focuses on what new technologies mean for our coexistence: what elements of AI are causing inequalities for humanity and topics such as the spread of fake news in the marketplace public. It takes a global view and notes that countries in the South do not have the same access to technology as other parts of the world.
Benanti said Francis was sensitive to the “great challenges facing humanity,” noting that he had begun his papacy with highlight the plight of migrants. He also addressed threat posed by climate change in major papal document and is now focusing on AI, Benanti added.
Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told CNN that “only regulation at the international level can produce valid and appreciable results to put an end to the abuse, manipulation and instrumentalization” of news. technologies. The academy’s efforts toward more ethical AI, he added, aim to ensure a “sustainable development path for all humanity.”
Italy, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the G7, last year placed a temporary ban on ChatGPT, a chatbot and virtual assistant, is concerned about privacy concerns and plans to penalize the misuse of AI. Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister, said she believed the pope’s presence in Puglia would “make a decisive contribution to the development of an ethical and cultural regulatory framework” for AI. She said it was crucial to harness the “best ethical and intellectual thinking” in the field, adding that the “Rome Call for AI Ethics” helped create the idea of ”algorithmic“- ethics for algorithms.
Francis’ decision to become the first pope to attend a G7 summit reflects his desire to be where “the real debate actually takes place,” said papal adviser Father Antonio Spadaro. job on X, formerly Twitter. During his stay in Puglia, Francis will have the opportunity to speak directly with decision-makers, and his decision highlights the pope’s vision of a Church who engages with the world rather than withdrawing from it.
Father Philip Larrey, author of a book on AI, “Artificial Humanity,” and former dean of the philosophy department at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, called Francis’ decision to attend a “quite surprising”, but Larrey thinks it will “influence the outcome” of the summit.
“AI and emerging technologies are on Pope Francis’ radar screen,” Larrey, now a philosophy professor at Boston College, told CNN. “(He) wants to use the richness of the Catholic tradition to weigh in on the importance of thinking about the ethical implications of AI. And his personal presence in Puglia testifies to the urgency of this message: he often refers to “person-centered AI” to make his point.”
The “deep fake” image of the Pope in the down jacket has become a landmark moment for the development of AI and deep fakery, demonstrate the power of new technologies to manipulate images.
Francis spoke about it when warning earlier this year on misinformation and the spread of images that “seem perfectly plausible but are false.” He emphasized: “I too have been the subject of this. »
It wasn’t just about the puffer jacket image: The pope was repeatedly the subject of deep falsifications, with computer-generated images circulating of him skateboarding, riding a motorcycle and even blending in with the Burning Man festival in Nevada.
It is clear that Francis sees AI as part of what he called the “change of times” which is taking place at the beginning of the 21st century.
His decision to attend the G7 summit indicates that he wants the Church be at the heart of discussions about how this change will unfold and help ensure that new technologies can benefit all of humanity.
