U.S. bishops launch task force to promote human dignity amid rise of artificial intelligence

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops announced a task force to ensure human dignity is protected as artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly develops, and more than a dozen bishops went to Capitol Hill to urge lawmakers to adopt meaningful safety guardrails for the technology.

The bishops said in a Sept. 16 announcement that the conference’s administrative committee also met with “representatives from a variety of tech firms and specialists” who work with AI.

Bishops’ spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi said the meeting “focused on ways to keep any system of Artificial Intelligence at the service of humanity” as well as “the urgent need to address the real and present dangers such technology presents.”

The meeting came amid warnings from numerous AI leaders of the risks posed by AI systems, which are undergoing rapid advancement and which critics say could one day threaten humanity with extinction if they become advanced enough.

In an apparent reference to those warnings, Noguchi in the press release referred to “recent events” she said “have only emphasized the great need for action by everyone involved.”

The bishops aimed to use the conversations to “help to identify ways the Church can contribute to the moral foundation of AI models and steps the companies can take to protect against misuse of their inventions and to guarantee human oversight of the technology.”

Following the meetings, the bishops’ administrative committee launched a task force aimed at “preserving human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence.” San Jose, California, Bishop Oscar Cantù will serve as task force chair, the bishops said.

“Over a dozen” bishops traveled to Capitol Hill after the meetings to press Congress for strong safety standards on artificial intelligence and to “support legislation to protect children online.”

Noguchi said the bishops and AI leaders also discussed “how the Church and industry can work together toward the goal of ensuring that technology is used in ways that keep it human-centered” while respecting human dignity and benefitting both the rich and the poor.

Church leaders have repeatedly called for meaningful AI oversight as the technology has progressed from a computer-based novelty to an embedded part of the global economy and of modern life.

Pope Leo XIV in May published his encyclical Magnifica Humanitas, in which the Holy Father warned that AI “tends to amplify the power of those who already possess economic resources, expertise, and access to data.”

“In practice … technology is never neutral, because it takes on the characteristics of those who devise it, finance it, regulate it, and use it,” the pope wrote.

In August, meanwhile, the pope warned that decisions affecting human life are increasingly being entrusted to machines and called for safeguards governing artificial intelligence and other digital technologies.

Earlier this month the U.S. bishops acknowledged the “widespread concern” that AI will lead to “higher unemployment and to fewer jobs that can support a family.” The technology must be “carefully developed” to serve the common good, they said.

Also earlier this month Archbishop Gabriele Giordano Caccia, apostolic nuncio to the United States, noted the “perception that we need a moral voice” on the topic of AI.

“Not everything which is possible to be done should be done. Not everything that technology offers should be taken. This is a moral choice,” the archbishop said.

Source: https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/u-s-bishops-launch-task-force-to-protect-human-dignity-amid-rise-of-artificial-intelligence