“With a background in engineering, a doctorate in moral theology and a passion for what he calls the “ethics of technology,” the 50-year-old Italian priest is on an urgent mission that he shares with Francis, who, in his annual peace message for 2024, pushed for an international treaty to ensure the ethical use of AI technology.”
– Frances D’emilio, The Associated Press
The Associated Press reports on Friar Paolo Benantia, who has the ear of both Pope Francis and executives in Silicon Valley about finding a balance between AI development and AI regulation. He is a consultant to the Pontifical Academy for Life at the Vatican, a member of the United Nations Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, leads an Italian commission on fake news safeguards, and teaches at Pontifical Gregorian University.
Benantia says the issue isn’t slowing the advance of AI models but finding the best governance model.
The Vatican’s top expert on AI ethics is a friar from a medieval Franciscan order | THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS | January 17. 2024 | by Frances D’emilio, The Associated Press