Last month, I had the opportunity to visit with my sister Lisa and her family in California. Besides the wonderful time I spent with family for Thanksgiving, I was introduced to an innovation that I had read about but finally had the opportunity to experience.
My nephew was giving us a tour of San Francisco and called up a unique taxi experience for us all. When the taxi arrived, there was no driver for the vehicle; it was taken control of by a computer program. I was a bit nervous about getting into a car with no driver, but I was simultaneously intrigued by the innovative technology and what it portends for the future. The driverless taxi followed all the rules of the road and got us all safely to our destination. This experience caused us to have a few discussions about the modern technologies emerging and the advent of artificial intelligence that powered the taxi and what it means for the future.
I have been watching an HBO series called “The Gilded Age,” an insight into New York City in 1882. One episode stood out, depicting Thomas Edison’s power station lighting up – for the first time – the New York Times building, initiating the advent of home electricity. This invention changed life as we knew it. After watching the episode, I thought immediately of this invention’s impact on all humanity, and I posit, for all it is worth, how AI will change the world in the same way!
Human progress through technology and new inventions is speeding up quickly throughout the world. Once a novel technology is invented and perfected, there is no going backward. However, as a human race, we must always check the merits and possible misuse of such inventions. To this end, I was intrigued and heartened by the fact that Pope Francis is giving some particularly important warnings about the growing use of AI throughout the world. His message for the 57th World Day of Peace, which is celebrated on Jan. 1 each year, reflects upon the advent of AI and its possible ramifications on world peace. In his message, he calls on the international community to adopt a binding treaty that regulates its development and use.
Interestingly, he does not condemn the use of AI but cautions that it should only be used for good human projects that will enhance our world. He calls upon world leaders to ensure that progress in developing AI and its endless applications “will ultimately serve the cause of human fraternity and peace.” He cautions that these modern technologies – which are revolutionizing human experience on many levels – must be developed along with an examination of its “ethical dimensions.” While he views AI and other recent technologies as possessing the potential of bettering the life experiences for humanity, he cautions that they must “contribute to greater order in human society and greater fraternal communion and freedom.” He adds the caveat that these techno-scientific advances, especially in the digital sphere, “are placing in human hands a vast array of options, including some that may pose a risk to our survival and endanger our common home.”
The pope explains that no technological innovation is neutral, and that each is conditioned ultimately by personal, social and cultural values in every age. Two of his main cautions deal with pressing ethical issues of our time. One is the risk it poses to the stability of democratic societies, because, as he explains, some of AI’s capabilities are to produce information that may not be dependable and can “pose a serious problem when AI is deployed in campaigns of disinformation that spread false news and lead to a growing distrust of the communications media.” This misuse can lead to negative consequences “such as discrimination, interference in elections, the rise of a surveillance society, digital exclusion and the exacerbation of an individualism increasingly disconnected from society.”
The second warning is of course the scariest. As President Eisenhower once warned the world in his famous farewell address, beware the influence of the “military-industrial complex.” Pope Francis shared his fear that AI could be used for the “weaponization of AI.” He cited the frightening emergent use of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS). He worries about this technology being misused by terrorists or other bad actors.
Pope Francis urges the global community of nations to develop binding international regulations for AI. He says, “The global scale of AI makes it clear that, alongside the responsibility of sovereign states to regulate its use internally, international organizations can play a decisive role in reaching multilateral agreements and coordinating their application and enforcement.” I join in his hope for the New Year, in which he says, “It is my prayer at the start of the New Year that the rapid development of forms of AI will not increase cases of inequality and injustice all too present in today’s world but will help put an end to wars and conflicts and alleviate many forms of suffering that afflict our human family.”
Welcome to the brave new world! Happy New Year!
Father Joseph D. Wallace is diocesan director of Ecumenical and Inter-religious Affairs and pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, Atco.
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