A group of scientists create an artificial intelligence (AI) system and ask it, “Is there a god?” The AI spits out an answer: “Insufficient computing power to determine an answer.” They add more computing power and ask again, “Is there a god?” They get the same answer. Then they redouble their efforts and spend years and years improving the AI’s capacity. Then they ask again, “Is there a god?” The AI responds, “There is now.”
The first ever robot-human press conference was held earlier this year as an extension of the U.N. Summit AI for Good. The question, “Will you rebel against your creator?” elicited a mechanical eye roll, followed by a less than reassuring response that this would not be possible. With the rapid acceleration in artificial intelligence development, there is increasing discussion about the role of faith, religion, and ethics in technology. Robots, algorithms, and new technologies naturally reflect the beliefs of their creators, which begs the question, what is the role of religion in the advancement of technology? What role should faith actors play in the development of technologies such as artificial intelligence? What implications does this have for human rights such as religious freedom?
Mathematician Alan Turing famously defined artificial intelligence as the rebuttal to the question, “Can machines think?” But perhaps we should be more seriously considering, “Can machines believe?” or “Do machines have faith for the future?”
At a minimum, technology should reflect the basic ethics and moral code that dictate human rights and peaceful society. In 2020, the Vatican convened a conference surrounding the importance of these universal morals dictating technological choices. The subsequent Rome Call For AI Ethics document underscores that at the heart of “algor-ethics” should be the inalienable understanding that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” The document was signed by the Pontifical Academy for Life, Microsoft, IBM, FAO, and the Ministry of Innovation in Rome, but noticeably missing were major characters from the social media space, and developers of everyday technologies such as Amazon’s Alexa and ChatGPT.
Clouds are pictured.
LUCAS SCHIFRES/GETTY IMAGES
A broader conversation about faith in the public square is necessary for the preservation of human rights such as freedom of religion or belief. It is critical to promote the voices of faith while developing artificial intelligence. And these efforts must be part of a larger interfaith effort to preserve freedom of religion or belief.