Paradoxical as it may seem, the Vatican's top minds on the technology that most shapes our world today come from the medieval order.
advertisementFriar Paolo Benanti wears the plain brown robes of a medieval Franciscan to solve one of the most pressing problems of our time: managing artificial intelligence (AI) to enrich people's lives and not exploit them. I'm looking for a way to do that.
Mr. Benanti is the Vatican's go-to person on technology, listening to Pope Francis as well as some of Silicon Valley's top engineers and executives.
With a background in engineering, a PhD in moral theology, and a passion for what he calls the “ethics of technology,” the 50-year-old Italian priest has an urgent mission to share with Francis. In his annual peace message for 2024, he pushed for an international treaty to ensure the ethical use of AI technology.
“What is the difference between an existing human being and a functioning machine?” Benanti said in an interview with The Associated Press during a break from the Pontifical Gregorian University. At the university, he teaches courses such as moral theology and bioethics to students preparing for the priesthood.
“This is perhaps the biggest question of our time, because we are faced with increasingly severe challenges by the day, posed by human machines.”
AI advisor
Mr. Benanti is a member of the United Nations' advisory body on artificial intelligence and chair of an Italian government commission tasked with providing recommendations on how to protect journalism from fake news and other disinformation.
He is also a consultant to the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Life.
Benanti said that during the meeting, he helped “clarify more clearly the terminology that is more technical for the pope.”
His knowledge was instrumental in a 2023 meeting at the Vatican between Francis and Microsoft President Brad Smith focused on how AI can help or hurt humanity.
The Vatican said Francis and Smith also discussed artificial intelligence “in the public interest” in a meeting several years ago.
The Holy See pays close attention to people living on the margins of society, and Francis said AI technology could have a negative impact on things like homebuyers applying for mortgages, immigrants applying for asylum, or criminals assessing their potential to commit crimes. It has made clear its concerns that it may have a negative impact on human rights and limit human rights. repeat the crime.
“It's clear that if you choose data that isn't comprehensive enough, you're going to have some options that aren't comprehensive enough,” Benanti said. Mr. Benanti's order was founded by St. Francis of Assisi in the early 13th century. He built wealth and promoted philanthropy.
Friar said Microsoft first asked Benanti about his thoughts on technology several years ago.
In 2023, Smith did a podcast with Benanti in Rome, explaining that the monk brought “one of the most attractive combinations in the world” in terms of engineering, ethics and technology backgrounds to the AI discussion. did.
Find the right uses for AI
Benanti, who left his degree and his girlfriend to join the Franciscans in his 20s, was one year away from completing his engineering degree at Rome's Sapienza University, and describes how AI is a “really powerful tool'' that will disrupt society. He talked about what he could become. Reduce drug costs and allow doctors to help more people.
But he also explained the ethical implications of technology that has the potential to be as capable as, or even better than, humans.
“It's a matter of not using [AI] But it is a matter of governance,” the monk said. “And this is where ethics comes in: finding the appropriate level of use within a social context.”
Benanti said much of the data that informs AI is provided by low-wage workers, many of whom are from developing countries with a history of colonialism and exploited labor. It pointed out.
advertisement“I don't want this to be remembered as a season in which we extract from the cognitive resources of the Global South,” he said.
If you look at “the best tools we are producing with AI'' in Western countries, you will find that AI is “trained using low-wage workers from English-speaking former colonies.''
How to govern AI is a problem that countries around the world are trying to solve. The European Union became a pioneer late last year when negotiators struck a deal paving the way for legal oversight of AI technology.
In Italy, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, concerned that AI could lead to job losses, plans to make the technology a focus of this year's G7 summit, which Italy is hosting.
As part of these efforts, Meloni met with visiting Microsoft founder Bill Gates in Rome on Thursday, with Benanti also present.
advertisementMonk told the AP that regulating artificial intelligence should not mean restricting its development.
“It means being compatible with a fragile system of democracy, and today seems to be the best system,” Benanti said.
