In Hiroshima, the Vatican joined religious leaders to change the narrative

(RNS) — Meeting where one of two atomic bombs that ended World War II landed in Hiroshima, Japan, causing mass death and devastation, representatives from 11 diverse religious traditions gathered July 9-10 for a Vatican-sponsored event to address a latter-day technology also destined, many believe, to upend humanity: artificial intelligence.

Rather than focus on AI’s potential apocalyptic threat, the participants emphasized how this momentous scientific achievement could possibly contribute to building a more ethical world and build peace.

More than 150 people from 13 countries attended the two-day event, which concluded with a signing ceremony of the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document that lays out principles of transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability and privacy.

The document was drafted before the COVID-19 pandemic by the Pontifical Academy for Life and the Italian government, which collaborated with tech companies that are on the frontier of AI development, including Microsoft and IBM. The document has since been signed and supported by dozens of universities and other tech companies that agreed to share their insights and knowledge to further a responsible use of AI.

The Church of England, influential Jewish rabbis and Muslim leaders also joined the call for an ethical approach to big data and AI.

At the memorial park in Hiroshima, Eastern leaders from Buddhist, Hindu, Zoroastrian and Bahá’í traditions came together for what the Vatican described as a “historic multireligious event.”

“I ask you to show the world that we are united in asking for a proactive commitment to protect human dignity in this new era of machine,” Pope Francis wrote in a message read by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Academy for Life, which under this pontificate has expanded its scope to include issues that impact all aspects of human life, from technology to palliative care to migration.

Paglia asked that AI, which he described as “a great tool with unlimited possibilities of application,” become “a driver of peace and reconciliation among peoples.” His words were echoed by Sheikh Abdallah Bin Bayyah, president of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace and chair of the United Arab Emirates Council for Fatwa, who invoked “a future in which the fruits of technology are harnessed to build a more tolerant, peaceful and virtuous world.”

Rabbi Eliezer Simcha Weiss, a member of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel’s Commission for Interfaith Relations, added, “AI strengthens our faith in God, providing avenues for exploring the intricacies of creation and the mysteries of existence.”

Francis’ adviser for AI, the Rev. Paolo Benanti, presented a second document, the “Hiroshima Appeal,” which urges world leaders to use the technology for peace and to resolve conflicts for a cessation of all violence.

Getting Muslim and Jewish representatives to sit together at the table was no easy feat, said the Rev. Andrea Ciucci, a Catholic priest who works on AI issues at the Vatican who attended and helped coordinate the event, in an interview on Thursday (July 18).

“What’s important is that everyone agreed to participate,” Ciucci said.

“If we sit down to discuss theology among religions we will never get out of it alive,” he added, “but if we do something for the betterment of humanity we can all sit at the table.”

Ciucci works alongside 150 scientists and experts at the Academy for Life attempting to infuse an ethical sense into the rapidly developing field of AI. He is also the secretary general of RenAIssance, a foundation whose brief is to promote the Rome Call for AI Ethics among leaders in the field of AI.

Francis has launched a powerful effort to address the topic in the church, sending priests to discuss AI with engineers from Silicon Valley to Nairobi, Kenya, and exploiting formal and informal channels.

With his ironed black shirt and white collar, Ciucci said he stands out in a crowd of developers and programmers who often ask him what a Catholic priest is doing in conferences about algorithms and big data. At a conference called AI for Good, held every year in Geneva, IBM’s AI Ethics Global Leader Francesca Rossi walked up to Ciucci and asked: “Excuse me, why are you here?”

Ciucci published a book answering that question in 2022. “We tackle AI because we believe that technology in general, but this one especially, influences the lives of human beings. Since we care about humanity we are here,” he explained.

No technology is neutral, Ciucci said. It is up to people to ensure that culture, society and economics don’t create inherent biases. AI, he said, challenges the question of what it means to be human, and as “an agency that is an expert of the flesh,” the Catholic Church has a lot to offer to experts in the field.

IBM was among the first signatories of the Rome Call, and the company has supported the Vatican’s outreach to universities around the globe. “Everything in the document is not written from the point of view of one specific religion but it has a human-centric approach and values that are shared by the Catholic religions and other religions,” Rossi told Religion News Service in an interview Wednesday.

Rossi, who serves on numerous boards focused on AI ethics, said technology firms’ clients are increasingly asking for reassurance that AI does not violate bias, discrimination or privacy norms. “Technology can and should be used to help human progress, not the other way around,” she said.

Rossi said the Hiroshima gathering, despite being held in a place haunted by almost unimaginable violence, was focused on peace. “The people of Hiroshima turned the narrative around,” she said, adding that the signatories of the Rome Call hope to do the same for AI.

The Vatican promises to continue being a voice for an ethical use for AI, centered on the promotion of peace. Summits with international organizations and events for the five-year anniversary of the Rome Call are already in the works, hinting at the Vatican’s and Pope Francis’ determination to ensure that AI becomes an instrument for good.