The people behind chatbots, asking questions of priests and ethicists rather than using their artificially intelligent creations to answer them, seek to uncover the answer to some fundamental queries: What is consciousness? How would you define our humanity? What is the purpose of life?
As AI develops rapidly, causing an impact on people’s daily lives with myriad uses, many Silicon Valley techies are turning to ethicists and religious leaders to ask questions about the implications. This is according to Father Phillip Larrey, Dean of the Philosophy Department at Rome’s Pontifical Lateran University.
Father Larrey, a native of Mountain View, California, and author of two books discussing the rise of AI, recently spoke to Catholic News Service on how society should engage with AI. He acknowledged that it is quickly becoming more accessible and commonplace through accessible technologies.
Father Larrey says:
“People want to talk with a priest or a sister, they want the experience of the religious person that they can’t get in an AI.”
ChatGPT, a popular software created by OpenAI, is an AI-operated program that allows users to experience new ways of interacting with computers. This software allows people to access conversational exchanges more efficiently and easily.
Father Larrey went on to say:
“Can access data to an enormous extent that for human beings is no longer possible,”
“That is why as a species we tend to look at AI with a certain fear, because we fear the unknown.”
The ChatGPT chatbot is equipped with artificial intelligence to learn algorithms to understand, create and infer information for human users.
The software has been designed to replicate human communication, quickly manufacturing essays and articles, coding programs, and offering guidance reliant on user input.
GPT4, the most sophisticated model of AI, was made available to the general public on March 14, and Father Larrey expressed concerns about the potential “catastrophic risks” of its use. He believes disinformation could be spread, and hackers might exploit code created by it.
He warned that AI could present potential dangers, including minors asking chatbots for guidance in illegal activities and students utilizing the technology to finish their schoolwork without actually learning.
Father Larrey says:
“we become dependent on the software, and we become lazy. We no longer think things out for ourselves, we turn to the machine.”
“That is why as a species we tend to look at AI with a certain fear, because we fear the unknown.”
Father Larrey asserted that it would be a grave mistake to opt out of incorporating AI technology into the curriculum. For example, he referred to certain universities deciding to prohibit ChatGPT’s utilization and argued what an oversight this was on their part.
Father Larrey went on to say:
“Are going to have to learn how to incorporate this into how they teach, what they test for, and how we can use these tools to our advantage.”
“I don’t think you can put the genie back in the bottle,”
“The market motivation is so strong that you’re not going to stop it.”
Microsoft has recently announced a significant, multi-year, $10 billion investment in Open AI. Other tech giants, including Google and Amazon, are simultaneously creating AI-based products to vie with present software in the market.
Father Larrey said conversations on AI must shift to what Pope Francis calls.
“person-centered AI.” The pope, he said, “is insisting that you need to put the human person at the center of this technology.”
At the Vatican, tech-industry representatives from companies such as Microsoft and IBM, alongside members of the Jewish and Muslim communities, gathered to attend a conference on ethics in AI. Here, Pope Francis addressed them all in January.
The pontiff emphasized the importance of not allowing AI to discriminate against the most vulnerable members of society in areas such as granting visas to asylum-seekers. He urged those responsible for implementing AI to ensure that decisions are based on individual evidence rather than generalized data.
Father Larrey continues to say:
“These people, who are really changing the future of humanity, they want to talk with us, they want to talk with priests, they especially want to talk with Pope Francis.”
The pope says:
“It is not acceptable that the decision about someone’s life and future be entrusted to an algorithm,”
After the conference, a declaration was signed by Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim representatives, stipulating that AI researchers partner with ethicists and religious leaders to concoct a guidebook for the ethical usage of AI.
Father Larrey went on to say:
“On social media and other technologies that came very quickly, we were trying to catch up and we weren’t exactly sure how to do this,”
“Beginning to think about how to structure some guidelines and some concerns so that this technology will be used for human well-being and human flourishing.”
Microsoft and other tech companies are searching for theologians and philosophers to answer the puzzling queries raised.
Father Larrey adds:
“They are looking for people who know how to think.”
“These people, who are really changing the future of humanity, they want to talk with us, they want to talk with priests, they especially want to talk with Pope Francis,” he said. “They’re looking for guidance and they’re looking for support. They’re looking for some way to make this help people and not harm people.”
“Priests will be one of the last to be substituted (by AI), even though they have AI’s that will hear your confession and celebrate Mass.”
When it comes to AI, Bishop expressed the importance of creating guidelines, such as adding parental controls to technology and enabling human decision-making even when AI is incorporated. By setting up the right parental controls on any device powered by AI, for example, parents can monitor its usage among children.
Father Larrey is aware of the potential risks AI poses to society yet remains optimistic that it can be used in ways beneficial for humanity if developed correctly.
Father Larrey went on to say;
“I think that people will win over the technology,” he said. “It’s not without perils, it’s not without difficulties.”
“Priests will be one of the last to be substituted (by AI), even though they have AI’s that will hear your confession and celebrate Mass.”
“People want to talk with a priest or a sister, they want the experience of the religious person that they can’t get in an AI.”
the makers of ChatGPT are inspired by Pope Francis’s message and strive to integrate his teachings into their work. They recognize the responsibility of developing AI technology and are committed to using it for the greater good while prioritizing human connection, empathy, and ethical practices. By doing so, they hope to create a language model that can positively impact society and promote the common good.
Source: America Magazine
