Pope: technological progress should not be separated from an ethic based on the common good

"New problems require new solutions. Respect for principles and tradition must always be experienced in a form of creative fidelity, not rigid imitation or obsolete reductionism".

Vatican City (AsiaNews) - The unstoppable progress of technology certainly has positive aspects, but dangers linked, for example, to the possibility of manipulating the opinions of millions of people must not be hidden. This is the reality underscored by Pope Francis in a speech addressed today to the participants in the seminar "The common good in the digital age" organized by the Dicastery for Integral Human Development and by the Pontifical Council for Culture.

He noted "the remarkable developments in the field of technology, in particular those dealing with artificial intelligence, raise increasingly significant implications in all areas of human activity. For this reason, open and concrete discussions on this theme are needed now more than ever." However there is "a fundamental parallelism. The indisputable benefit that humanity will be able to draw from technological progress depends on the degree to which the new possibilities at our disposal are employed in an ethical manner". "The principal objective you have set yourselves is considerably ambitious: to arrive at criteria and fundamental ethical parameters capable of providing guidance in ethical problems that occur with the widespread use of technology. I realize how difficult it must be for you, who represent at the same time the globalization and specialization of knowledge, to define certain essential principles in a language that is acceptable and can be shared among all. Yet do not lose heart in seeking to attain such a goal, focusing also on the ethical value of ongoing transformations connected to the principles established by the Sustainable Development Goals defined by the United Nations. Indeed, the key areas you are exploring will have an immediate and real impact on the lives of millions of people."

The Pope observed that " The problems you have been called upon to analyze concern all humanity and require solutions that can be extended to all of humanity. A good example would be robots in the workplace. On the one hand, they could put an end to certain arduous, risky and repetitive types of work – that emerged, for instance, at the start of the industrial revolution in the nineteenth century – which often cause suffering, boredom and exhaustion. On the other hand, robots could become a purely hyper-efficient tool, used only to increase profits and returns, and could deprive thousands of people of work, putting their dignity at risk."

"Another example would be the advantages and risks associated with the use of artificial intelligence seen in debates on major social issues. On the one hand, it is possible to allow greater access to reliable information and thus guarantee the affirmation of correct analyses. On the other hand, it is possible, as never before, to circulate tendentious opinions and false data that could poison public debates and even manipulate the opinions of millions of people, to the point of endangering the very institutions that guarantee peaceful civil coexistence. For this reason, technological development, which we have all witnessed, requires that we reclaim and reinterpret the ethical terms that others have handed down to us.If technological advancement became the cause of increasingly evident inequalities, it would not be true and real progress. If mankind’s so-called technological progress were to become an enemy of the common good, this would lead to an unfortunate regression to a form of barbarism dictated by the law of the strongest."