Pope warns of risks from artificial intelligence, calls for international regulatory treaty

The Pope warned this Wednesday that the evolution of “artificial intelligence” systems is “radically changing” information and communications, and through them “some of the foundations of civil coexistence,” defending the adoption of an international treaty regulator.

In his message on the occasion of World Social Communications Day, which takes place on May 12, the pontiff noted that this change “affects not only professionals, but everyone.”

“The rapid proliferation of marvelous inventions, the functioning and potential of which are unknown to most of us, causes amazement, oscillating between enthusiasm and disorientation, and inevitably confronts us with fundamental questions: what is man, what is his specificity and what will happen next? the future of our species called “Homo sapiens” in the era of artificial intelligence? How can we remain fully human and steer the cultural changes that are taking place for the better?” Francisco asked, before issuing several warnings.

“It is true that machines have a much greater ability than humans to remember data and associate them with each other, but deciphering their meaning depends on humans and humans alone. Thus, it is not a question of making demands from machines that appear human, but of awakening man from the hypnosis into which he falls due to his delusion of omnipotence, believing himself to be a completely autonomous and self-referential subject, separated from all social connections and oblivious about your state of being.” , added Francisco.

According to the Pope, “man has always had the experience of being insufficient in himself and strives by all means to overcome his vulnerability.”

“Starting with the first prehistoric tools, which were used as an extension of the hand, passing through the means of communication as an extension of the word, today we reach the most advanced machines that serve as an assistant to thought,” he wrote in his message. entitled “Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart: For Fully Human Communication.”

However, he warned that “every thing in the hands of man becomes an opportunity or a danger, according to the direction of the heart. The body itself, created as a place of communication and communication, can become a weapon of aggression. Likewise, he warned that “every thing in the hands of man becomes an opportunity or a danger, according to the direction of the heart. , every technological extension of man can be an instrument of loving service or hostile domination.”

“Artificial intelligence systems can contribute to the process of liberation from ignorance and facilitate the exchange of information between different peoples and generations. For example, they can make accessible and understandable the vast heritage of knowledge written in past eras, or allow people to communicate in “languages ​​that are unknown to them. But at the same time, they can be instruments of “cognitive pollution”, changing reality through partially or completely false narratives, but which are believed – and shared – as if they were true,” he added. .

The Pope gave the example of the “problem of disinformation” facing “fake news” and how “deep fakes are now being used, that is, the creation and dissemination of images that seem completely plausible but are false, or messages-audio.” who uses a man’s voice to say things he never said himself.”

“The simulation that underlies these programs can be useful in some specific areas, but becomes perverse when it distorts relationships with other people and with reality,” he says.

Francisco argued that “it is important to be able to perceive, understand and regulate tools that, in the wrong hands, can open up negative scenarios. Algorithms, like everything else that comes from the human mind and hands, are not neutral.”

“It is therefore necessary to prevent this by proposing models of ethical regulation to circumvent the harmful, discriminatory and socially unjust consequences of artificial intelligence systems and counter their use to reduce pluralism, polarize public opinion or build a common mindset,” he added, reiterating the need for a “binding international treaty , which regulates the development and use of artificial intelligence in its various forms.”

According to the Pope, the digital revolution can make people freer, but it will not be able to do this if it “traps him in the patterns that today are called an echo chamber.”

In these cases, “instead of increasing information pluralism, there is a risk of getting lost in an anonymous swamp, giving preference to the interests of the market or power.

It is unacceptable that the use of artificial intelligence leads to anonymous thinking, the installation of uncertified data, and the lack of collective editorial responsibility,” he emphasized.

“On the one hand we see the looming specter of a new slavery, on the other the conquest of freedom; on the one hand, the possibility that a few determine the thinking of everyone, on the other, the possibility that everyone participates in the development of Thought,” he warned, Francisco also warns that “it is up to man to decide whether to become food for algorithms or to feed his heart with freedom , without which it is impossible to grow in wisdom.”