The Vatican wants to engage on the impact and potential for AI.
This is driven right from the top. Pope Leo wants to be ahead, not behind. We now know the Holy Father oversees his communion of 1.3 billion via his I-phone, smart watch and use of Whats App.
The new realities for dealing with the tsunami of issues generated by AI were highlighted to the Bled Strategic Forum in Slovenia by Monsignor Mihaita Blaj, the Vatican’s Deputy Foreign Minister.
“We tend to be rather conservative. But especially because we are too in love with human beings, so we fell in love immediately with something that is artificial.”
In line with the Holy Father’s radical encyclical Magnifica Humanitas on safeguarding the human person in a time of AI published a few months ago, The Holy See is determined to engage. It is targeting states and tech companies on the ethics, governance and the use of artificial intelligence.
I was moderating a session at the forum on Can Democracy Survive AI. In a show of hands at the start a majority of the 200 people in the hall believed it can.
Monsignor Blaj made clear Pope Leo and his Vatican see AI as a force for reshaping how human beings relate to truth, human intelligence, and society itself. It is moving fast to engage with the new software and technology.
Pope Leo’s willingness to engage in AI is clear from his decision to use his first encyclical to reflect on human growth in the age of AI. Why? “This is not only an invention. It is imitating our intelligence, and it is able to penetrate everything that we are doing ” Monsignor Blaj told the session.
But is the Vatican worried by the distorting threats from disinformation and “fakes”, I asked?
Monsignor Blaj says this is not a main threat from AI. He argues that AI is morally neutral, just as any other tool.
But he pointed to a wider challenge to society. “We have a problem: the timing. Artificial intelligence is entering our world when our world . . . is a jungle” already “imbued with competitiveness, with greed, with deterrence, with will to control.”
That is why Monsignor Blaj highlighted how AI is “destabilising potentially our societies”. At times AI erodes truth. This is a Vatican concern.
“With one click I have access to what I need in that moment. This has a huge impact on my ability to do research, to cross the sources, to reflect critically.”
This is a big positive. But he does worry about the effect this will have on critical thinking for future generations.
So how do we protect the truth and govern in the age of AI?
The Holy See’s answer: it is difficult. “You can close your door, you can control your back door, but you cannot close all the windows in our world.”
Monsignor Blaj referred to the initiative in 2021 when the Holy See proposed an international organisation for AI, and a treaty on governance. This went a long way to placing the Vatican firmly ahead of the pack in terms of understanding AI’s influence and speed of growth.
I wanted to be sure we understand how the Pope governs in this fast-paced, digital environment. So I asked the Monsignor.
“The Pope is using his iPhone, his smartwatch, the Pope is chatting, is having conversations with us.” He governs using modern tools because he maintains that “daily relationships with his collaborators” are most important.
The Vatican has taken a clear and potentially world-leading view on AI. It recognises the pitfalls of the impact on society. It will work to avoid them.
So Monsignor Blaj argued that critical to avoiding the threats of AI is collaboration “[alongside] education, regulation, optimism etc”
And he added firmly that he would add “shared responsibility”.
