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Contributions from the Catholic Church to ethical reflections in the digital era

Nature Machine Intelligence volume 2, pages 242–244 (2020)Cite this article

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The Catholic Church is challenged by scientific and technological innovation but can help to integrate multiple voices in the ongoing dialogue regarding AI and machine ethics. In this context, a multidisciplinary working group brought together by the Church reflected on roboethics, explored the themes of embodiment, agency and intelligence.

The fast pace of digital innovation and technological progress calls for profound ethical reflection. The ethical frameworks for artificial intelligence (AI) recently proposed by private and public actors, including, for example, OECD and UNESCO, denote increasing awareness and commitment at the international level1. Extended transdisciplinary discussion in scientific journals2 supports the enactment of such a process, where it is crucial to preserve solidarity among people, as highlighted by the United Nations3. Moreover, the need to dynamically assess the impact of digital innovation and technological progress on society4 and the environment5 is receiving growing attention, as an integral action that is needed for sustainable development. Furthermore, it is necessary to disclose the contextual definition of shared principles, for their common understanding to be effective and to move from guidelines to actions6.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy

    Edoardo Sinibaldi

  2. Working Group on Roboethics of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City, Vatican City

    Edoardo Sinibaldi, Chris Gastmans, Miguel Yáñez, Richard M. Lerner & László Kovács

  3. Centre for Biomedical Ethics and Law, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium

    Chris Gastmans

  4. Faculty of Theology, Pontifical Gregorian University, Rome, Italy

    Miguel Yáñez

  5. Institute for Applied Research in Youth Development, Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA

    Richard M. Lerner

  6. Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Applied Sciences, Augsburg, Germany

    László Kovács

  7. Pontifical Academy for Life, Vatican City, Vatican City

    Carlo Casalone, Renzo Pegoraro & Vincenzo Paglia

Authors
  1. Edoardo Sinibaldi
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  2. Chris Gastmans
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  3. Miguel Yáñez
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  5. László Kovács
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  6. Carlo Casalone
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  7. Renzo Pegoraro
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  8. Vincenzo Paglia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Renzo Pegoraro.

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The author declares no competing interests.

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Sinibaldi, E., Gastmans, C., Yáñez, M. et al. Contributions from the Catholic Church to ethical reflections in the digital era. Nat Mach Intell 2, 242–244 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42256-020-0175-4

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