INsight/ Tool or Weapon

Photo courtesy paolobenanti.com

Manila, 16 March 2023 — How spiritual leaders influence the introduction of AI.

Story

It happened in November 2022. For the first time in history, G20 host Indonesia convened an R20 forum as part of the leaders’ summit in Bali. They invited religious representatives from around the world with the theme of Revealing and Nurturing Religion as a Source of Global Solutions: An International Movement for Shared Moral and Spiritual Values. The organizers of the event shared a vision of ‘preventing the weaponization of identity’ and ‘curtailing the spread of communal hatred, promoting solidarity among diverse peoples, cultures, and nations, and fostering a harmonious world order.’

When opening the R20 forum, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, called on the leaders to produce “concrete steps to ensure that religion functions as a source of solutions to the problems facing religion and humanity.” According to the organizers, this came with an invitation to “end conflict and create a peaceful world for the future.” Among the remarkable series of discussions and inter-religious ceremonies during the leaders’ stay in Bali, one talk drew my attention especially, about Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Introducing the concept of Algorethics, Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan monk, professor, and engineer from Rome, spoke compellingly about “the timeless values of religion and their irreplaceable contribution to humane and peaceful development of artificial intelligence.” I then learned how the six principles of transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, and security and privacy formed the basis for negotiating the Rome Call for AI Ethics, involving the Pontifical Academy for Life, Microsoft, IBM, FAO, and the Italian Ministry of Innovation. In early 2023, these first signatories were quickly followed by top representatives of the Islamic and Jewish faiths. You can follow the latest developments here.

Challenge

There is no doubt that we are facing unprecedented challenges in managing the rollout of AI in all areas of the economy and society around the world. Seeing faith leaders of the caliber of Father Benanti play a key role in this process caught my attention and interest, not only for the challenges but also for the opportunities that he outlined.

In a subsequent interview with Microsoft’s vice chair and president Brad Smith on the Tools and Weapons podcast, Benanti explained that he plans to return to Asia soon to further engage with the religious leaders in Asia about the Rome Call for AI Ethics. What struck me was how he described the opportunity of using AI to help us move beyond a world of identities that divide, to discover a new and wider community that can collaborate for human benefit.

In Benanti’s own words, “if you try to define what is your identity, you're building up something that is splitting you from the others. You are building up probably a wall that defines what's yours and what is not yours, you are building up the frontier. And we saw this new digital continent that is the new frontier where you have a lot of possibility, but sometime you have also a lack of law. And this is something that surfaces every day on the cyber news and things like that. And if we look in the perspective to find a common ground in this new [tech with AI] continent, it's much, much easier not to build identities that have to fight one with the other, but to build bridges. So the same bricks can be used to make wall or to build bridges. We try to build bridges.”

Question

This rapidly moving discussion on how to manage AI as a tool for good, and adopting ethics to avoid its use as a weapon to divide, will concern us all. AI already affects the operations of our businesses, governments, civil society, and the platforms we use in our personal and work lives. The discussion offers a unique opportunity for faith leaders like Father Benanti and business leaders like Brad Smith to collaborate at the very heart of the tech sector. I hadn’t seen that before.

It resonated with me when Microsoft’s Brad Smith tellingly captured an intimate moment when Pope Francis held his hand and wrist and said, "Don't lose your humanity." That’s what our challenge is about in this time of rapid digital transformation, and I was inspired to see some of the world’s faith leaders choosing to position their teams to be at the center of these discussions. Smith sees it as being on a path to “put humanity at the center of technology” and to help us all to “recognize the common bond in every part of humanity.”

With several celebrations coming up on the religious calendar, including the Nyepi Day of Silence in Bali, the holy month of Ramadan, and the holy week of Easter for Christians, some of the leaders I work with are taking benefit of these opportunities to nurture their spiritual intelligence as part of growing their leadership. I believe that is important. My question to you for this week is what moral ethics, spiritual values, and new solutions for humanity we should consider as part of AI in our digital transformation? I look forward to hearing from you. Set up a Free Strategy Call to discuss how you can be part of this new frontier of leadership.