A priest serving in Silicon Valley said the Vatican’s efforts to build bridges with major tech giants, while slow going, are not being ignored and sees this engagement as key to the future of the artificial intelligence industry. Source: Crux.
Following the release on Monday of Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, on humanity in the era of AI, Fr Brendan McGuire said major tech organisations are heeding Vatican warnings in AI, particularly the need to proceed with caution.
Pastor of St Simon parish in Los Altos, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, Fr McGuire has been involved in discussions between the Vatican and tech organisations for the better part of a decade, including monthly meetings attended by Vatican officials, including Irish Archbishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education.
“I have met with them consistently over many years, and then intensely over this last year, and I will tell you I have seen men and women – and not just Anthropic, of other companies, of AI companies – of genuine goodwill who are trying to do the right thing,” he said.
Anthropic, an American AI company based in San Francisco and focused on AI safety, was invited to a seat at the Vatican’s official presentation of the papal encyclical, which was also attended by Pope Leo himself, marking the first time a pope had participated in the presentation of an encyclical.
Acknowledging that good intentions are not always enough, Fr McGuire said that “unless we have those good intentions we’re not going get anywhere. So, we need to meet the good intention and then have a dialogue.”
Many involved in developing AI technologies, he said, “see something in what they’re developing that is concerning them. Maybe even frightening them. Maybe even making them in awe because of something brilliant that you have discovered”.
“What they have asked for is partnership, and it would be morally reprehensible to us to not partner with them and listen to them,” he added.
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Silicon Valley priest says big tech is open to Vatican on AI (By Elise Ann Allen, Crux)
