The head of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Francis, called on Catholics around the world to pray that robots and artificial intelligence “always serve humanity” and not harm. The pontiff’s appeal is posted on the official Vatican YouTube channel.
Elon Musk has repeatedly warned about the threats posed by robotics and AI. Attempts to create a “thinking” computer the head of SpaceX and Tesla called “the biggest problem that threatens the existence of mankind.”
“”With artificial intelligence, we summon a demon,” the businessman warned back in 2014. “You probably know all these stories in which a hero with a pentagram and holy water is confident that he can control evil spirits. But in reality it does not work.”
However, Pope Francis’s message to believers was much more prosaic. In his speech, he said that AI is “at the center of the epochal changes we are experiencing,” and that robotics has the power to change the world for the better – but only when these technologies are applied correctly.
Otherwise, the head of the Vatican expressed fears, the consequences of technological progress could lead to increased social inequality and global challenges for all mankind.
Earlier this year, the Holy See worked with Microsoft and IBM to develop the “Rome Call for the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.” The document lists the basic principles that should guide the creators of the computer “mind”: transparency, inclusiveness, responsibility, impartiality, reliability and safety
