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ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the contributions of Pope Francis toward human-centered AI and digital innovation. It draws from his numerous dialogues with experts in technology, medicine, science, ethics, law, philosophy, and theology. The papal engagements are based on the rich patrimony of Catholic Social Teaching that is being updated in the wake of the digital revolutions. The paper explores the Magisterium of Francis with the question of technological progress and inherent dangers for human society. It underscores some fundamental anthropological and ethical themes that the Pontiff considered necessary in making emerging technologies beneficial.
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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Correction Statement
This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.
Notes
1 John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis §7. The expressions were taken from Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et spes (December 7, 1965), §4 and Paul VI, Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio on Development of Peoples (March 26, 1967), §13.
2 John Paul II, Sollicitudo Rei Socialis §41.
3 Benedict XVI, Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace, “If You Want to Cultivate Peace, Protect Creation” (January 1, 2010), §4.
4 Yuval Noah Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century (London: Penguin Book, 2018), 28.
5 Harari, 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, 16.
6 Gernot Böhme, Invasive Technification: Critical Essays in the Philosophy of Technology (London–New York: Bloomsbury, 2012), 25.
7 Cfr. Claudio Giuliodori, “Cammino sinodale e sfide educative,” Vita e Pensiero (luglio/agosto 2022), Anno CIII, 533–545. Here p. 534.
8 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
9 Francis, Discorso nella Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, Firenze (novembre 10, 2015).
10 Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ On Care for our Common Home (May 24, 2015), §§ 101,106,108,109,111,112.
11 Retrieved from https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/06/the-return-of-catholic-anti-modernism.
12 Francis, Encyclical Letter Laudato Si’ §102.
13 The citation include some direct expressions of John Paul II as can be found in the following sources: Cf. John Paul II, Address given at Mercy Maternity Hospital, Melbourne (November 28, 1986): L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, December 9, 1986, p. 13; ID., Meeting with scientists and representatives of the United Nations University, Hiroshima (February 25, 1981), 3: AAS 73 (1981), 422; ID., Meeting with employees of the Olivetti workshops in Ivrea, Italy (March 19, 1990), 5: L'Osservatore Romano, English edition, March 26, 1990, p. 7.
14 Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church. (Vatican: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2004) §457.
15 Francis, Encyclical Letter Fratelli Tutti on Fraternity and Social Friendship (October 3, 2020) §166.
16 For a more detailed synthesis of the social doctrines of the Church on technology See, Paolo Benanti, Tecnologia per l’uomo. Cura e Innovazione (Milano: San Paolo, 2021), 67–139.
17 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter Caritatis in Veritatis (June 29, 2009), §70.
18 Benanti, Tecnologia per l’uomo. Cura e innovazione, 92. Emphasis original.
19 Pontificia Accademia per la Vita: https://www.Academyforlife.va/content/pav/it/projects/intelligenza-artificiale.html (accessed July 26, 2023).
20 Cfr. Pontificia Accademia per la Vita: https://www.Academyforlife.va/content/pav/it/projects/intelligenza-artificiale.html (accessed July 26, 2023).
21 Pontificia Accademia per la Vita: “Sapienza ha aderito alla Rome Call For AI Ethics: Un Approccio Etico All’ Intelligenza Artificiale” in https://www.academyforlife.va/content/pav/it/notize/2020/la-sapienza-firma-call-ai-ethics.html (accessed July 26, 2023).
22 Information is retrieved from https://www.romecall.org/second-anniversary-of-the-rome-call-for-ai-ethics-signed-in-rome-by-microsoft-ibm-fao-on-february-28-2020/.
23 Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium (November 24, 2013), §257.
24 Cortile dei Gentili, “L’intelligenza artificiale: Distingue Frequenter. Come giungere a una comunanza etica nella società del pluralismo,” 3. My translation. https://www.cortiledeigentili.com/lintelligenza-artificiale-distingue-frequenter-2/
25 Cortile dei Gentili, L’intelligenza artificiale: Distingue Frequenter, 3–4 My translation.
26 Francis, Laudato Si’, §105
27 Francis, Laudato Si’, §136.
28 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Seminar “The Common Good in the Digital Age,” Organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (DPIHD) and the Pontifical Council for Culture (PCC), September 27, 2019.
29 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
30 Ibid.
31 Francis, Address to the European Parliament, Strasbourg, November 25, 2014; Francis, Message to the Executive Chairman of the “World Economic Forum” on the Occasion of the Annual Gathering in Davos-Klosters, January 23–26, 2018.
32 Francis, Message to the World Economic Forum in Davos, January 12, 2018; Francis, Address to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 25, 2019.
33 Francis, Address to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 25, 2019.
34 Ibid.
35 Ibid.; Francis, Letter to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life for the 25th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Academy, Humana Communitas [The Human Community] (6 January 2019), §4.
36 Francis, Letter to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Humana Communitas §13.
37 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Seminar “The Common Good in the Digital Age,” September 27, 2019.
38 Francis, Fratelli Tutti, §235; See also, Evangelii Gaudium, § 59.
39 Francis, Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, 20 February 2023.
40 Francis, Letter to the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Humana Communitas §13.
41 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
42 Francis, Address to Participants in the “Rome Call” Meeting promoted by the RenAIssance Foundation, 10 January 2023.
43 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Seminar “The Common Good in the Digital Age,” September 27, 2019.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid.
48 Francis, Fratelli Tutti, §42.
49 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
50 Francis, Address to Participants in the “Rome Call” Meeting promoted by the RenAIssance Foundation, January 10, 2023.
51 Francis, Address to Participants in the Congress on Child Dignity in the Digital World, November 14, 2019.
52 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
53 Francis, Address to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 25, 2019.
54 Ibid.
55 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
56 Francis, Address to Participants in the “Minerva Dialogues,” March 27, 2023.
57 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020. Emphases original.
58 Francis, Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 20, 2023.
59 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
60 Francis, Address to Participants in the “Minerva Dialogues,” March 27, 2023; Cf. Video Message to the TED Conference in Vancouver, April 26, 2017.
61 Francis, Address to Participants in the Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, November 28, 2016.
62 This trend appears to overhaul the attempt of Leo XIII’s Magisterium to revive and model catholic philosophy and theological investigation on Thomism through the encyclical of 1879 Aeterni Patris.
63 Committee on Legal Affairs, “Motion for a European Parliament Resolution with Recommendations to the Commission on Civil Law Rules on Robotics”. 2015/2016 (INL), May 31, 2016. Rapporteur: Mady Delvaux. This document recommends among other things the recognition of robots as legal persons.
64 Riccardo Campa, Corbally Christopher, Rappaport Margaret Boone, “Electronic Persons. It is Premature to Grant Personhood to Machines But Never Say Never,” Gregorianum 101, no. 4 (2020): 793–812. Here p. 800.
65 Camp, Corbally, Rappaport, “Electronic Persons,” 803.
66 Francis, Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 20, 2023.
67 Francis, Address to Participants in the “Minerva Dialogues,” March 27, 2023.
68 Francis, Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 20, 2023; Encyclical Letter Laudato si’, §105.
69 Francis, Greeting to a Delegation of the Max Planck Society, February 23, 2023. Emphases original.
70 Francis, Address to the Members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 20, 2023.
71 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 28, 2020.
72 Francis, Address to the Participants in the Seminar “The Common Good in the Digital Age,” September 27, 2019.
73 Francis, Address to Participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life, February 25, 2019.
74 This expression was used by the Italian Philosopher Luciano Floridi to describe the inhabitants of the infosphere. Inforgs are considered as natural agents that co-exist with artificial agents in an information saturated environment. They are agents defined by information. Inforgs can be hybrid in nature especially humans who share their existential space with the presence of digital artefacts, surveillance systems, digital cameras etc. For more on the use of this expression, See Luciano Floridi, The 4th Revolution, How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014).
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Notes on contributors
Ugochukwu Stophynus Anyanwu
Ugochukwu Stophynus Anyanwu is a PhD Researcher in the Faculty of Philosophy of Pontifical Gregorian University Rome.