As artificial intelligence transforms society, the most pressing challenge is ensuring that technology is guided by ethics, human dignity and the common good, according to experts at the launch of Australian Catholic University’s Human and Digital Futures initiative.
The initiative is designed to prepare graduates who can develop and use AI responsibly.
The Human and Digital Futures accelerator will drive the university’s new technology-focused courses. Technical subjects will be paired with complementary studies in ethics, helping students develop the skills needed to design, deploy and govern technology in the AI age.
The Human and Digital Futures initiative will also deliver research in areas such as human-centred design and algorithmic fairness, and cultivate industry partnerships that prioritise technology that promotes human progress and the common good.
ACU vice-chancellor and president Zlatko Skrbis said it was vital for universities to explore what it meant to remain human in an age of technological disruption.
“In his recent encyclical, Pope Leo challenged universities directly, calling on us to speak up for the human person, to engage thoughtfully with AI, and to provide educational awareness around the proper and critical use of this technology,” Professor Skrbis said.
“ACU has already made that choice. AI is not a threat to be managed, or a tool to be adopted uncritically. It creates an opportunity to amplify what is most distinctively human: our creativity, our empathy, and our capacity for ethical reasoning.”
The panel event was chaired by ACU provost Julie Cogin, who underlined the importance of technology education that extended beyond technical skills.
“Our students learn to code and to question, because the world needs graduates who can do both,” Professor Cogin said.
“By embedding ethical and social perspectives across our technology programs, we’re preparing our graduates to apply technology in ways that benefit society.”
The panel featured leading voices from technology, industry and academia, including Good Shepherd CEO Stella Avramopoulos, Effective Altruism Australia chair and director Michael Noetel, and St Vincent’s Health Australia chief medical officer Chris Robinson.
They offered their thoughts on the extraordinary opportunities AI presents, and the importance of technological innovation that keeps humans in the loop.
The wide-ranging discussion explored how the future of technology can prioritise the ethical over the technical, and the primacy of the person over things.
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