Cisco signs the "Rome Call for AI Ethics"; Vatican News, April 2024

Linda Bordoni, Vatican News; Cisco signs the "Rome Call for AI Ethics"

"Expressing satisfaction that the Multinational Digital Communications Technology – Cisco – has joined other major companies involved in AI, in pledging to adhere to ethical guidelines, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, underscored the fact that artificial intelligence is “no longer a topic just for experts” and that the ethics of its development is more urgent than ever.

The President of the Pontifical Academy for Life (PAV) was speaking at an event on Wednesday morning during which the CEO of Cisco System Inc., put his signature to The Call for AI Ethics, a document promoted by the Pontifical Academy and by its RenAIssance Foundation (that supports the anthropological and ethical reflection of new technologies on human life) and has already been endorsed by the likes of Microsoft, IBM, FAO and the Italian Ministry of Innovation."

The Friar Who Became the Vatican’s Go-To Guy on A.I.; The New York Times; February 9, 2024

 Jason Horowitz, The New York Times; The Friar Who Became the Vatican’s Go-To Guy on A.I.

"There is a lot is going on for Father Benanti, who, as both the Vatican’s and the Italian government’s go-to artificial intelligence ethicist, spends his days thinking about the Holy Ghost and the ghosts in the machines.

In recent weeks, the ethics professor, ordained priest and self-proclaimed geek, has joined Bill Gates at a meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, presided over a commission seeking to save Italian media from ChatGPT bylines and general A.I. oblivion, and met with Vatican officials to further Pope Francis’s aim of protecting the vulnerable from the coming technological storm."

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Launches The Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC) and its First Applied Corporate Ethics Roadmap in Collaboration with the Vatican; Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, June 28, 2023

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University ; The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Launches The Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC) and its First Applied Corporate Ethics Roadmap in Collaboration with the Vatican

"About the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC)  

The Institute for Technology, Ethics and Culture (ITEC), housed at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, is  an initiative of the Center which has been developed with support from the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education. The Institute convenes leaders from business, civil society, academia, government, and all faith and belief traditions, to promote deeper thought on technology’s impact on humanity. For more information on ITEC and to access its many resources, see https://www.scu.edu/institute-for-technology-ethics-and-culture/."

The Vatican Releases Its Own AI Ethics Handbook; Gizmodo, June 28, 2023

 Thomas Germain, Gizmodo; The Vatican Releases Its Own AI Ethics Handbook

"The Vatican is getting in on the AI craze. The Holy See has released a handbook on the ethics of artificial intelligence as defined by the Pope. 

The guidelines are the result of a partnership between Francis and Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Together, they’ve formed a new organization called the Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC). The ITEC’s first project is a handbook titled Ethics in the Age of Disruptive Technologies: An Operational Roadmap, meant to guide the tech industry through the murky waters of ethics in AI, machine learning, encryption, tracking, and more."