CNN
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Last year, an image of Pope Francis wearing a stylish white down jacket went viral, sparking a flurry of comments about the outfit's choice and even questions about whether he had a hired stylist. But there was a problem: the image was a “deepfake,” created using artificial intelligence.
This week, the pope is set to make a historic intervention in the debate over AI at the G7 summit in the southern Italian region of Puglia. On Friday, Francis will take part in a session on AI, becoming the first pope to attend a summit of the world's most advanced leaders, including U.S. President Joe Biden, a Catholic close to Francis.
The 87-year-old Pope is determined to use the soft power of his papacy to ensure that developments in AI benefit humanity and do not turn into a 21st-century Frankenstein's monster.
The Pope, who trained as a chemist in his youth, welcomes these developments and believes AI will bring exciting new opportunities, but he also sees significant risks.
In a message published late last year, he warned of the possibility of a “technocratic dictatorship” emerging. “The Pope believes that AI can only make the world a better place if it serves the “common good” and does not increase inequalities,” he said.
The Pope and the Vatican have been pushing for an ethical framework to underpin the development and use of AI. Since 2020, the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life has been a body advocating for the development and use of AI. Catholic moral teaching on bioethics is The Rome Declaration on AI Ethics is a document that sets out six principles for AI ethics, including transparency, inclusiveness, accountability, and fairness.
The Vatican is seeking support from major tech companies and governments, and so far, signatories include Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), and Cisco Systems (CSCO), as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Italy's Ministry of Innovation, and numerous religious leaders.
At the G7 summit, the pope is expected to urge world leaders to cooperate on regulating AI, repeating his call late last year for a “binding international treaty” to prevent harmful practices and promote best practices. While legislation regulating AI has already been passed, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators has put forward a plan for regulating AI that could lead to federal law.
“The pope is not an engineer, but he is concerned about the social dimensions and impacts of AI,” Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar and professor who has worked with the Vatican on AI issues, told CNN. Benanti is also a member of the UN advisory body on AI. At the G7, expect the pope to emphasize elements of his previous messages on the issue.
“Pope Francis' central approach focuses on what new technologies mean for our coexistence – which elements of AI are creating inequalities for humanity, and issues such as the spread of fake news in the public sphere. He has a global perspective and understands that countries in the global south do not have the same access to technology as other parts of the world.”
Benanti said Francis is sensitive to “the great challenges facing humanity.” He has highlighted the plight of migrants since the beginning of his papacy and has also mentioned the threat of climate change in key papal documents. “Right now we're focused on AI,” Ben-Antti added.
From the middle of the journey
The AI-generated imagery was created using a tool called Midjourney.
“Only regulation at an international level can produce effective and significant results in preventing the misuse, manipulation and exploitation of new technologies,” Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, told CNN, adding that the academy is pushing for more ethical AI to ensure “a path of sustainable development for all humanity.”
Italy, which currently holds the G7 presidency, temporarily banned the chatbot and virtual assistant ChatGPT last year over privacy concerns and also plans to punish the misuse of AI. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said he believes the Pope's visit to Puglia “will make a decisive contribution to the creation of an ethical and cultural regulatory framework for AI.” She said it was important to utilise the “best ethical and intellectual considerations” in the field, adding: The “Rome Call for AI Ethics” The idea of ”Argoethics” — Ethics algorithm.
Francis' decision to be the first pope to attend the G7 summit demonstrates his desire to go to places where “real discussions actually take place,” papal adviser Father Antonio Spadaro wrote on Twitter. During his time in Puglia, Francis will have the opportunity to speak directly with decision-makers, and his decision underscores the pope's vision for the church. Instead of running away from the world, engage with it.
Father Philip Lally, author of a book about AI called “Artificial Humanity” and former dean of the philosophy department at the Lateran University in Rome, called Francis' decision to attend “very surprising,” but he believes it will “influence the outcome” of the summit.
“AI and emerging technologies are a concern of Pope Francis,” Lally, the Boston University philosophy professor, told CNN. “He wants to draw on the richness of the Catholic tradition to speak out about the importance of thinking about the ethical implications of AI, and his personal visit[to Puglia]is a testament to the urgency of that message. The pope often refers to 'human-centered AI' in making his case.”
The “deepfake” image of the Pope in a down jacket marked a landmark moment in the development of AI and deepfakes, demonstrating the power of the new technology to manipulate images.
Pope Francis touched on this point earlier this year when he warned about the spread of disinformation and “apparently plausible but false” images, noting that “I myself have been a target”.
And it's not just his down jacket image: The pope has also been the subject of repeated forgeries, with computer-generated images circulating of him skateboarding, riding a motorbike and immersed in the Burning Man festival in Nevada.
It is clear that Pope Francis sees AI as part of the “epochal transformation” that will occur in the early 21st century.
His decision to attend the G7 summit was prompted by his commitment to the church. It will be at the heart of the debate about how this change will unfold, and help ensure that new technologies can benefit humanity as a whole.
