By Lavoisier Fernandes –
In the late 1960s, “artificial birth control” dominated the headlines. It was so much a moral and ethical impasse that it challenged the basic fabric and foundation of society, which was “the family”. The world and society expected the church to change and give way to this new method as against to the age-old method of natural family planning that was in sync with God’s desire for married life. Then the summer of 1968 came which stunned the world including Catholics when Pope St. Paul VI in his encyclical Humanae Vitae, “of Human life” forcefully reaffirmed the church’s previously stated position on the use of artificial birth control, calling it “intrinsically wrong”. The Church till date gets its stick of criticism for this teaching and for being out of sync with reality, and science and not moving with the times.
Fast forward and more than fifty years on, with the rapid paced advancement of technology, the world is dominated by another ethically (similar sounding) emergence called “artificial intelligence” or AI as it is commonly referred. More recently Pope Francis was engulfed in fake news of an AI image which generated Pope Francis dressed in a Jet-Puffed, winter-white, ankle-length hooded down jacket which went viral, well I thought Pope Francis looked super cool and certainly in vogue in this fake image, but people got tricked that it was real.
I am not technologically savvy as I would like to be, but artificial intelligence cannot be missed and is the talk of the town (i.e., every social media set-up, conversation etc.) and is part of the “vogue culture” which for all its good we at times get sucked into. In-fact I was introduced (in a positive way) to the concept of AI within the Church where the priest informed us in the congregation that his homily was written using AI technology whilst questioning and challenging us about its ethical and moral use. So also, don’t get me wrong, I am all for technology and I find it fascinating and brilliant, especially during the Covid pandemic where it was an immense blessing dealing with my aged vulnerable parents back home.
Just as with Science where the Catholic Church has been the patron of sciences wit), acoustics foundational contributions from catholic scientist like Galileo (despite his trial),acoustics (Mersenne), mineralogy (Agricola), modern chemistry (Lavoisier)-certainly not me here, modern anatomy (Vesalius), stratigraphy (Steno), bacteriology (Kircher and Pasteur), genetics (Mendel), analytical geometry (Descartes), heliocentric cosmology (Copernicus), atomic theory (Boscovich), and the Big Bang theory on the origins of the universe by the Belgian Catholic priest Lemaitre. So also, the Catholic Church does not necessarily view technology as evil but will not tolerate the use of technological know-how for adulterated purposes. As far as the internet is concerned, social media, blogs, and podcasts can be used as powerful instruments to preach the gospel. Pope St. John Paul II said we care called: “To use science and technology in a full and constructive way, while recognizing that the findings of science always have to be evaluated in the light of the centrality of the human person, of the common good and of the inner purpose of creation” (“Common Declaration on Environmental Ethics”, 10 June 2002). In his last encyclical letter Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict XVI said: “Technology enables us to exercise dominion over matter, to reduce risks, to save labor, to improve our conditions of life. It touches the heart of the vocation of human labor: in technology, seen as the product of his genius, man recognizes himself and forges his own humanity” (CV, 69).
On February 28, 2020, the Catholic Church through its Pontifical Academy for Life came out with the “Rome’ call for AI ethics” to promote “algor-ethics”, namely the ethical use of AI. This was further advanced with support from Jewish and Muslim leaders through the Abrahamic commitment to the Rome Call for AI Ethics co-signed on 10th January 2023. While software vendors Microsoft and IBM were the first two enterprises to support the Rome Call, its ethos is aimed more broadly at any organization using the technology, in enterprises, governments, and civil society. The Rome Call itself consists of a preamble and six succinct principles that supporters commit to. In their entirety, they are:
- Transparency: AI systems must be understandable to all.
- Inclusion: These systems must not discriminate against anyone because every human being has equal dignity.
- Responsibility: There must always be someone who takes responsibility for what a machine does.
- Impartiality: AI systems must not follow or create biases.
- Reliability: AI must be reliable.
- Security and privacy: These systems must be secure and respect the privacy of users.
In conclusion, the Church whilst embracing the enormous benefits of AI, threads the route of caution, vigilance and suggests its ethical use through the framework provided in the “Rome’ call for AI ethics”. In one of his weekly audiences Pope Francis called for a global reflection on the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI), noting the new technology’s “disruptive possibilities and ambivalent effects and recalls the need to be vigilant and to work so that a logic of violence and discrimination does not take root in the production and use of such devices, at the expense of the most fragile and excluded”. The Holy Father when on to add “the urgent need to orient the concept and use of artificial intelligence in a responsible way, so that it may be at the service of humanity and the protection of our common home, requires that ethical reflection be extended to the sphere of education and law”.
Lavoisier Fernandes, born and raised in Goa, is currently based in West London. His faith is “work in progress”- and a lifelong journey. He has always been fascinated by the Catholic faith, thanks to his Salesian schooling. He’s passionate about podcasting, theology, the papacy, and volunteering. He has hosted ‘Talking Faith’ series for Heavens Road FM, Catholic Radio, connecting with ordinary men and women within the Catholic faith, other faiths and examining issues affecting both the Church and society. He has also been a host on Shalom World Catholic TV for two episodes of the ‘Heart Talk’ series. He presently contributes for the Goa Diocesan magazine Renevacao.