Tech organizations and religious institutions are uncommon collaborators — and perhaps even more so in Seattle, which according to the U.S. Census, is the least religious metro area in the nation.
But some issues are so urgent and important that they bring together unlikely bedfellows.
This month, Seattle University has welcomed Father Paolo Benanti, Pope Francis’ advisor on artificial intelligence and technology ethics, to the Jesuit institution as a distinguished visiting professor. Benanti also last week joined Microsoft President Brad Smith for a discussion with employees at the company’s Redmond, Wash., campus. And on Wednesday, the Franciscan monk spoke at an event in downtown Seattle hosted by the Alliance of Angels investment group and K&L Gates law firm.
Smith and Benanti met five years ago at the Vatican while collaborating on the “Rome Call for AI Ethics,” a document promoting transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, and security and privacy in digital technology. Microsoft and IBM were the original tech signatories of the document.
Microsoft and the Catholic Church came together, said Benanti, when they realized they were asking some of the same questions about AI and ethics. That started a “journey of complexity and morality,” he told GeekWire.
Earlier this week we visited the Seattle University campus and spoke with Benanti, who is also on the United Nations’ AI Advisory Body, along with Onur Bakiner, an associate professor and director of the Seattle University Technology Ethics Initiative.
Here are some highlights of the conversation, which was edited for clarity and length.
On the potential harms posed by AI
“Misinformation has become prominent with generative AI models,” Bakiner said. “Before that, I think a major risk was our automated decision-making systems, and how the data collection and analysis methods could amplify existing biases in society, and data privacy or data protection.”
Benanti shared concerns about misinformation’s capacity to erode our connections. “It’s a new way that could melt the social glue for our community or society,” he said.
On potential benefits
“The idea that you can simply enhance productivity [and] the ability of the human beings is the history of technology,” Benanti said. AI could be a “multiplier” of human potential, he added.
Bakiner pointed to the medical innovations discussed at the AI and health summit that his university recently hosted, which include improved diagnostics, drug discovery and providing better healthcare.
On which ethical standards should be applied to technology
“We should recognize that ethics in this context is a plural word, that there are multiple ethical visions both in secular and religious traditions,” Bakiner said. “It’s important to have a democratic society in which these multiple ethical visions can talk to each other, enlarge each other’s horizons and perhaps learn from each other.”
“Our society is a connection of different elements. We know that sometimes differences could collide,” Benanti said. “And ethics is a way to handle this. One of the most important discussions on this kind of plural existence of human beings in the world is how to [have] choice in a just way.”
On the importance of this issue to the Catholic Church and Pope Francis
Since he was elected to his role, Pope Francis has stressed the importance of migration, climate change and now AI, said Benanti. The Church is simply “looking at what is on the horizon,” he said.
On policy and regulations
The European Union has the AI Act, which takes effect this week. There are debates on national AI legislation in China, Canada and the U.S., while Colorado is the first state to pass an AI bill, Bakiner said. Other regulations like consumer protection laws, or data protection or privacy laws can also regulate AI. And the U.S. Federal Trade Commission is also directing the course of AI developments.
“Of course just having a law doesn’t mean that it’s good law,” Bakiner said. “So we need to definitely have a societal debate around that as well. But definitely, there is increasing interest in legal regulation.”
On what provides hope that the world can tackle the challenge of AI’s ethical use
“As we speak, there are dozens of groups that address some of the risks and harms of AI, from a perspective of bias and discrimination, misinformation, protection of children, data protection, and so on,” Bakiner said. “Sometimes they are in universities, sometimes they’re in nonprofits, sometimes they are neighborhood associations, and of course, percolating all the way up to something like the United Nations. So there is that awareness that makes me hopeful.”
Benanti added to that thought: “The hope is that we are talking about [AI ethics]. We are here, and we are talking about that.”
On how the likelihood of ethical behavior given intense competition among tech giants and startups
“I’m not naive. Profits are the driving motive for a company. Large corporations have to increase shareholder value pretty much every single quarter for the high brass to keep their jobs, and so they may ignore ethics,” Bakiner said.
“But at least in some of these large companies, there are now ethics boards, responsible AI officers, compliance officers, and so people whose job it is to actually enforce and amplify the message of developing technology in safe and responsible ways,” he added. “It is not necessarily an equal struggle, but it’s definitely a struggle within these companies. So the future is open. It can really go in either direction.”
On advice for GeekWire readers who are creating or engaging with AI tools
“Stay human,” said Benanti.
https://ift.tt/QKuEZcb July 31, 2024 at 11:18PM GeekWire
Post a Comment
0Comments