The pope said that although “‘intelligent’ machines may perform the tasks assigned to them with ever greater efficiency,” artificial intelligence is “merely ‘fragmentary’ in the sense that they can only imitate or reproduce certain functions of human intelligence.”
He added the impact of such developments is heavily affected by “the aims and interests of its owners and developers” and that algorithms can replicate “the injustices and prejudices of the environments where they originate” and cannot be the standard for moral judgment.
“The unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making is more than a complex collection of algorithms, and that capacity cannot be reduced to programming a machine, which as ‘intelligent’ as it may be, remains a machine,” Francis said.
One of the pope’s main concerns with artificial intelligence is its potential use in war through autonomous weapons. Such weapons, he warned, “can never be morally responsible subjects” and could also end up “in the wrong hands” and be used to facilitate “terrorist attacks” or the destabilization of “legitimate systems of government.”
Also of concern, he noted, is the potential use of artificial intelligence in determining mortgage applications, job hiring, the possibility of recidivism of a person in prison, and the right to receive political asylum or social assistance. He warned that such algorithms can be “exposed to forms of bias and discrimination” and that “systemic errors can easily multiply.” He also said the technology could lead to more automation of labor jobs.
“Reliance on automatic processes that categorize individuals, for instance, by the pervasive use of surveillance or the adoption of social credit systems, could likewise have profound repercussions on the social fabric by establishing a ranking among citizens,” Francis said.