Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican MediaRome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church's call for ethical and responsible use of AI.Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Pope Francis on April 24 before signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life. Pope Francis meets with Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican MediaThe document, first published by the pontifical academy in February 2020, has previously been signed ...
Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).
The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican's artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church's call for ethical and responsible use of AI.
Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Pope Francis on April 24 before signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life.
The document, first published by the pontifical academy in February 2020, has previously been signed by Microsoft President Brad Smith and IBM Executive John Kelly III.
The Rome Call underlines the need for "algor-ethics," which, according to the text, is the ethical use of artificial intelligence according to the principles of transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy.
The text quotes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in pointing to the equal dignity and rights of all humans, which AI must protect and guarantee, it says, while calling equally for the "benefit of humanity and the environment."
It states there are three requirements for "technological advancement to align with true progress for the human race and respect for the planet" — it must be inclusive, have the good of humankind at its core, and care for the planet with a highly sustainable approach.
Robbins said that "the Rome Call principles align with Cisco's core belief that technology must be built on a foundation of trust at the highest levels in order to power an inclusive future for all."
Years before the widely popular release of the GPT-4 chatbot system, developed by the San Francisco start-up OpenAI, the Vatican was already heavily involved in the conversation of artificial intelligence ethics, hosting high-level discussions with scientists and tech executives on the ethics of artificial intelligence in 2016 and 2020.
The pope established the RenAIssance Foundation in April 2021 as a Vatican nonprofit foundation to support anthropological and ethical reflection of new technologies on human life.
Pope Francis also chose artificial intelligence as the theme of his 2024 peace message, which recommended that global leaders adopt an international treaty to regulate the development and use of AI.
Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in Rahat (aerial view), May 2024. / Credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities AuthorityJerusalem, May 23, 2024 / 10:31 am (CNA).Archaeologists from the Israel Antiquities Authority have discovered a Byzantine-period church in the northern Negev desert with wall art displaying ships. The surprise findings were announced in a press release issued by the authority on May 23.The discovery was made in the south of the Bedouin city of Rahat, where the Israel Antiquities Authority has been conducting excavations for several years in the context of a city expansion project. The excavated site tells the story of settlement in the northern Negev desert at the end of the Byzantine period and in the beginning of the early Islamic period.Israel Antiquities Authority excavation in Rahat (aerial view). Credit: Emil Aladjem/Israel Antiquities AuthorityAccording to the excavators, "these intriguing drawings may have been left by Christian pilgrims arriving ...
The Biden administration holds that the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) can be used to require emergency room doctors to perform abortions. / Credit: Wikimedia CommonsCNA Staff, May 23, 2024 / 11:17 am (CNA).The Biden administration this week launched an online tool designed to allow patients to report violations of a federal health law, one that the White House says requires emergency room doctors to perform abortions in some cases. At the center of the dispute is the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). That law, which was passed in 1986, dictates to Medicare-participating hospitals that "all patients receive an appropriate medical screening examination, stabilizing treatment, and transfer, if necessary," regardless of ability to pay.U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said in July 2022, shortly after the Supreme Court repealed Roe v. Wade, that under EMTALA an emergency room doctor "must provide" abo...
Carlo Acutis. / carloacutis.comRome Newsroom, May 23, 2024 / 06:22 am (CNA).Pope Francis has recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Carlo Acutis, paving the way for him to become the first Millennial saint.The Italian computer-coding teenager who died of cancer in 2006 is known for his great devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.The recognition of the second miracle attributed to Acutis' intercession makes it possible that Acutis could be canonized during the Catholic Church's 2025 Jubilee Year.In a decree on May 23, Pope Francis approved the miraculous healing of a 21-year-old girl from Costa Rica named Valeria Valverde who was near death after seriously injuring her head in a bicycle accident while studying in Florence in 2022.After the girl underwent an emergency craniotomy to reduce intracranial pressure, the family was told that her situation was very critical and that she could die at any moment, according to the Vatican's Dicaste...