Why does the Pope talk AI and Blockchain?
Updated: Nov 7, 2019
But first, A National AI Strategy
The United States is the global leader in developing and using artificial intelligence (AI), but succeeding in AI requires more than just having big tech produce these technologies. We need a healthy ecosystem of AI for social good, a policy that prevents data bias and protects our personal information. I am glad that this past week, experts across the government, industry, and academia urged Congress to confront and prioritize issues around ethics, bias and the increasing interactions between humans and robots. I think it is specifically important in three areas 1.to address workforce skills gaps 2.foster innovation-friendly regulations and 3.Accelerate public sector adoption of AI to manage citizen services.
How AI could help solve some of society’s toughest problems
When it comes to AI. we always think about either 1.it’s efficiency in industrial sectors or 2.Harmful effects on society. What we don’t often hear is how it is helping towards the causes of social good. AI does have the potential to develop new medical treatments, improve public safety and protect endangered species. MIT professor Fei Fang’s developed an algorithm that blends machine learning and game theory to ensure that the routes of patrol boats are random and deters any nefarious actions.
Pope urges Silicon Valley to avoid slide toward new "barbarism"
The question of ethics in AI, data privacy and algorithmic bias are often discussed and debated but this time in the confines of the Vatican. A three-day gathering at the Vatican was attended by the who’s who of Silicon Valley and discussed topics ranging from AI and Blockchain. The Pope summed it by saying “The remarkable developments in the field of technology, in particular, those dealing with artificial intelligence, raise increasingly significant implications in all areas of human activity. For this reason, open and concrete discussions on this theme are needed now more than ever,” If the Pope is involved in such a topic, it is high time we take action on regulating some of the issues of deep fakes and false news.