He papa Francisco sobando a Madonnaposing with a white design coat or reuniting in heaven with Jesus, Queen Elizabeth or Kobe Bryant. For many, Google included, the relationship between The Vatican and the Artificial Intelligence (AI) It is limited to false content that has been viralized as memes. However, and although it may seem like an oxymoron, the relationship between Catholic church and technological modernity is much narrower than could be presupposed.
Throughout the last decade, the humanistic leadership of Jorge Bergoglio He has managed to convert the Vatican, one of the most immobilist institutions on the planet, in a voice with increasing prominence in the debate on the ethics of AI. Since 2013, the Holy See has used its world influence – which goes beyond the faithful Catholics – to preach in favor of a “regulation careful “of this technology marked by a “moral evaluation” that accelerates its “huge opportunities” and limits its “deep risks.”
In January, a long report signed by members of Roman curia – The Vatican Government – and supported by the Pope, warned that in AI, as in any field that requires human decisions, “the shadow of evil loop.” The document warned that disinformation artificially generated “can gradually undermine the foundations of society” and that interaction with chatbots as ChatGPT He could lead to a “harmful feeling of isolation” and to normalize a “transactional treatment of human relationships.”
The Vatican against Silicon Valley
Francisco met with technological magnates as Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Brad Smith (Microsoft) o Eric Schmidt (Alphabet), but that did not prevent him from repeatedly denouncing the ‘Tecnosolutionism ‘a “technocratic paradigm” advocated from Silicon Valley which defends that all the problems of the world can be solved only with technology.
The Pope remarked on several occasions that AI should not become a capitalist exploitation tool that reduces workers “mere gears of a machine”, stripping them of their dignity. “Technological advances that do not improve everyone’s life, but create or aggravate inequalities And conflicts cannot be described as true progress, “he denounced in his message on January 1, 2024.
In the document published earlier this year, the Vatican warned “the concentration of power over the main applications of AI in the hands of a few powerful companies”, giants such as GoogleMicrosoft or goal that are being investigated in several countries for abusing their monopoly. Already in 2019, the Argentine pontiff warned that “in the digital world huge economic interests operate, capable of exercising as subtle as invasive controls, creating mechanisms for manipulation of consciences and the democratic process.”
AI for diplomacy
Although the BENEDICT XVI PAPA He already warned in 2007 on the impact of AI on the common good, it was Francisco who directed the growing interest of the Holy See in a series of avant -garde technologies increasingly present in our lives, insisting on a positive application. Long before its commercial explosion in 2022, the Catholic Church used AI to read and digitize ancient Latin manuscripts, organized hackatones to reward the creation of programs software with social impact and promoted several debates about the deep learning of machines (deep learningfor its acronym in English) or data analytics.
The Pope denounced the vices of Silicon Valley, but also wove alliances with the heavyweights of the industry to expand its influence. Last year he was appointed Demis Hassabisco -founder of Google DeepmindNobel Prize in Chemistry and one of the greatest world experts in AI, as a member of the Vatican Scientific Academy, founded in 1603. Also in 2024, the Vatican allied with Microsoft to create a digital replica of the historical and iconic basilica of San Pedro.
Far from the spotlights, Francisco also used AI as a diplomatic tool to influence the regulatory action of several countries, including those of the European Union. Already in 2016, members of the curia began to become a hole at first -order technological and cultural festivals such as the Summit website or the South By Southwest. In 2019, the Pontiff appointed the Franciscan theologian and an expert in technological ethics, Paolo Benanti, as consultant of the Council for Culture. A year later, the Pope Advisor promoted a manifesto in defense of a “responsible” digital innovation – firmed by the Church, Italy, Microsoft and IBM– which served as the basis for the code of conduct created in 2023 by the G7.
