Inside the Vatican’s Quest to Redefine the Future of AI

ROME – In frescoed halls where theologians have debated for centuries, a distinctly modern query resonated through the Vatican this week: If machines are increasingly capable of thought, who will instruct them in ethics?

It’s a quote from a seminar that took place within the walls of Vatican City, where representatives from the Church, technologists and ethicists came together to discuss the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence. Reporting on the event, Vatican News writes that the seminar focused on how to create “ethical systems” from the outset, rather than seeking to address problems after the fact. It reports that Bishop Paul Tighe, a veteran of digital ethics issues, told developers that the dignity of the human person needs to be incorporated at the design stage. In other words, don’t try to retrofit morality as an afterthought.

It’s worth noting, however, that the Vatican is no stranger to AI. The Holy See has become a regular advocate of the need for regulation of AI – as AI-generated content finds its way into more and more aspects of life – and discussions on what could actually be feasible on that front have gained more traction in the past 12 months, from the corridors of Silicon Valley to legislatures.

Take Europe’s far-reaching regulations. The European Union’s highly touted AI Act would rate AI systems by risk and ban some while heavily restricting others. The proposal is either “a massive overreach” or a necessary baseline, depending on who you ask. But it’s motivated by the same fear that the Holy See just highlighted: if we deploy this stuff, it can’t be undone.

It’s not just politicians and bureaucrats who are fretting. Tech titans have also sounded off. Last year, industry leaders and scientists signed open letters saying that if left unmanaged, AI could be bad for society, a notion being pushed in part by the Center for AI Safety. Okay, so maybe that was hyperbolic. But when those calling the shots start hollering “fire,” it’s only natural to raise an eyebrow.

But the Vatican’s messaging was different. Less end-of-the-world, more human-centered. Presenters stressed that AI must benefit people – not quietly change them. Which is a distinction that can get lost in the excitement of it all. We’re so busy gaping at what AI can do – write legal briefs, detect illness, make entire movies – that we overlook whether it should do these things in the first place.

Then there’s the economic impact. The World Economic Forum has discussed on several occasions how AI may not only impact millions of jobs but generate new types of employment too, such as those that are featured in our regular podcast on AI and robotics. The future of work is not just an idea, it’s at our door. Kicking sometimes, often asking to be let in.

At the Rome event, attendees are said to have debated the philosophical aspects of the issue. How can a machine “make a decision”? Can an algorithm preserve dignity, or does that need to be a conscious act? Deep, man, but required. If AI is going to be part of a decision to give you a loan, to call you for a job interview, or to release you on parole, then ethics can’t be an afterthought.

I’ll say this: there’s something kind of beautiful about this backdrop. The Vatican, frequently derided as the antithesis of modernity, caught dead in the center of one of the most inherently destabilizing technological transitions the world has ever seen. It’s a sign that questions of ethics don’t just belong to technologists. They belong to us all.

And maybe that’s the silent conclusion from this week’s seminar. The future of AI will be written not only with code, not only with capital, not only with laws and regulations, but with values. They’ll be talked about in meeting rooms, in lecture halls, at dinner tables. In messy, human places.

The computers are learning. The question is, are we?