Follow and Join

Navigation

You are here: Home › News › Artificial Intelligence from a Vincentian Perspective: Helping or Hindering Hands?

Artificial Intelligence from a Vincentian Perspective: Helping or Hindering Hands?

By on November 15, 2024 in News

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly present in our lives without us always being aware of it. Our Vincentian mission gives us a unique perspective on this topic and helps us to reflect on the ethical aspects of AI. What benefits and challenges does AI bring? Who benefits from it and who does it harm? How can we ensure AI does not create an even greater “digital divide”, a gap between those who have vast access to technology and those who are left behind by digitalization? In the article below, Dr. Linda Sama, AIC representative to the United Nations, shares her thoughts on this very topical issue.

***

Attending the IMF/World Bank spring meetings this year as a representative of the International Association of Charities (AIC), I discovered that much dialogue swirled around the debate about Artificial Intelligence – its benefits and challenges. It provoked my thinking about our Vincentian mission and how St. Vincent de Paul might have viewed this technological phenomenon. The ethics of AI is clearly worthy of our consideration, especially in how, for people living in poverty, it may exacerbate the disparities in how benefits and burdens of AI are distributed.

In doing my research, I was pleasantly surprised to find that my thoughts about AI and the Vincentian Charism have been plumbed by others in the Vincentian Family, specifically Fr. Roger Mamani Choque, CM, of Peru, who invited us all in July 2024 to a three-part reflection on just this very topic, exploring the ethics of AI from a Vincentian perspective (see part 1, part 2 and part 3 of this reflection on the CM Global website). This reflection coincides with two recent, fundamental assertions: the Vatican’s AI expert Friar Paolo Benanti’s advocacy for an international treaty to ensure ethical AI use (see article by Jon); and the UN’s Global Digital Compact, wherein member states pledge to improve digital cooperation that would “ensure safe and affordable digital access for all”. The Global Digital Compact was created using “a technology track involving all stakeholders: governments, the United Nations system, the private sector (including tech companies), civil society, grass-roots organizations, academia, and individuals, including youth”. After collecting contributions from these different stakeholders, member states gathered at the Summit of the Future in New York in September 2024. This meeting led to the adoption of a Pact for the Future that includes a Global Digital Compact (read more about the Global Digital Compact).

St. Vincent de Paul was dedicated to alleviating the suffering of people living in poverty, and committed to building a more just society that welcomes the “stranger” and respects the dignity of every person. As members of the Vincentian family, the advent of AI and its pervasive application in nearly all aspects of our lives calls on us to be vigilant about its potential for harm, while simultaneously acknowledging its capacity for progress. Experts agree that there is no escaping AI – it is here to stay – but it remains largely unregulated and tips the scales in favor of those on the privileged side of the digital divide. We need to be educated about how AI is used, what hazards AI attaches to the lives of those with limited access to financial and digital products and services, and how it can be applied in ways that are more ethical and just.

This inquiry comes at a pivotal time, as we hurtle towards 2030 and the promise contained in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agenda. Notably, SDG 1 calls for the elimination of poverty in all its manifestations. Any threat to that goal undermines the model virtues of St. Vincent de Paul, who emphasized respect for the dignity of people living in poverty and attention to their material as well as spiritual needs. AI is touted as a helping hand, making access to finance for underserved markets more efficient, innovative and enabling, but the reality is that very little is yet known about the misuses of AI and their consequences for humankind. Similarly, benefits of AI for the health sector, education, and finance have been robustly documented, but tracking measures of the responsible adoption of AI that include transparency, fairness, privacy and security, and strong governance have been relatively deficient. Methods of tracking also lack harmonization, which makes it difficult to draw comparisons across regions, adopter firms, and AI developers (see Artificial Intelligence Index Report 2024).

AI’s potential to hinder the economic health of the world’s most vulnerable communities and exacerbate social and economic disparities is significant at a time when AI is burgeoning while the digital divide in marginalized communities widens, and with AI-driven decisions taking on more prominence. These decisions often carry algorithmic biases that can amplify inequities in society, “reflecting back the bias in our world” and “doing so at potentially massive scale and without due oversight” (see article by Panch, Mattie & Atun). Now is the time to advocate for better regulation of AI and stronger policies for its implementation, especially for those otherwise “left behind” by digitization. As Bernards (2023, p. 83) asks: Do AI and financial technology translate into equitable opportunities for all, and to what extent do they even contemplate “what freedom, equality, dignity, and above all democracy might mean in relation to finance”?

Our unique Vincentian perspective casts an ethical light on the implementation of AI and suggests means of curbing the excesses of AI where they have the potential to create the most harm, by insisting on transparency, justice, care and dignity.

***

References:

Comments are closed.