Pontiff calls for institutions to put ethical principles into practice in guiding AI development

Pope Leo said Friday that institutions are needed to put ethical principles into practice to guide the development of artificial intelligence, stressing that AI must serve the common good and that certain decisions should never be delegated to machines.

Speaking at a gathering in the Vatican on the future of AI, the pope stressed the importance of keeping the human person at the heart of this technology to avoid the danger of threatening the common good and reducing people to data points.

Nevertheless, "you share a certain sense of unease regarding the development of artificial intelligence. We recognize the direction we should take, yet not enough is being done to move forward," the pontiff was quoted as saying by Vatican News.

"The future of AI is not pre-determined; machines are tools, not people; certain decisions cannot ever be delegated; intelligent technologies must be directed to the common good," he noted, underlining: "Institutions are needed to put ethical principles into practice to guide AI development."

The pope said that since human beings develop AI, its future relies on the choices humanity makes. He noted that this is why "we have the responsibility to guide, change, and, when necessary, reject its applications.."

"The question is not just, ‘What can AI do?’ Instead, it needs to be, ‘What purpose should it serve?’” said the pontiff.