The Vatican joins the artificial intelligence fad. The Holy See published a handbook on the ethics of artificial intelligence defined by the Pope.
The guidelines are the result of a collaboration with the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Together they formed a new organization called the Institute of Technology, Ethics and Culture (ITEC).
ITEC’s first project is a manual entitled Ethics in the age of disruptive technologies: an operational roadmap intended to guide the tech industry through ethics in AI, machine learning, cryptography, tracking and more.
While many advocates, academics and observers focus their efforts on appealing to regulators, the ITEC handbook takes a different approach. Instead of waiting for governments to set industry standards, ITEC hopes to provide guidance for people in technology companies who are already struggling with the toughest AI problems.
Overall, the book advocates incorporating values organized around a set of principles into technology and the companies that develop it from the start, rather than looking back to fix problems after the fact. The handbook details an anchor principle for companies: guarantee that “Our actions are for the Common Good of Humanity and the Environment”.
This great basic principle is divided into seven guidelines, such as “Respect human rights and dignity” and “Promote transparency and explainability”. These seven guidelines are subdivided into 46 concrete steps, with definitions, examples and practical steps.