My Dear Brothers and Sisters,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nwelcome you most cordially and I thank Archbishop Paglia for his kind\nwords. Our meeting is taking place\nduring a great Jubilee for the Pontifical Academy for Life\u2014 the Twenty-Fifth\nAnniversary of its Founding. For this\nimportant occasion, last month I sent a letter entitled Humana Communitas<\/em>\nto your President. What led me to write\nthat letter was first of all to thank all the Presidents who have succeeded one\nanother at the helm of the Academy and all the Members for their talented\nservice and generous commitment in protecting and promoting human life over\nthese past twenty-five years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nall know the difficulties our world is going through. The fabric of family and societal\nrelationships is becoming ever more threadbare and there is a growing tendency\nto close ourselves off within ourselves and our own interests, with serious\nconsequences for the \u201cgreat and crucial question of the unity of the human\nfamily and its future.\u201d (H.C., 2) This presents us with a great paradox: just\nwhen humanity possesses the scientific and technical ability to procure\nwell-being that is spread fairly, as God would wish, we see instead conflicts\nthat are increasingly bitter and an increase in inequalities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nEnlightenment myth of progress is disappearing and the capabilities that come\none after another in science and technology don\u2019t always produce the desired\nresults. In fact, on the one hand\ntechnological development has allowed us to solve problems that until a few\nyears ago were insurmountable\u2014and we are grateful to the scientists who made\nthose breakthroughs; but on the other hand, difficulties and dangers have\narisen that are sometimes more insidious than what went before. Being \u201cable to do\u201d something threatens to\novershadow who<\/em> is acting and for whom<\/em> something is being\ndone. The technocratic system that is\nbased on the criterion of efficiency says nothing to answer the deepest\nquestions that man asks himself. And if\nindeed we cannot do without technology\u2019s resources, we must recognize that by\nusing them we subjugate ourselves to it. \nStill, technology is a sign of humanity. \nIt shouldn\u2019t be seen as a force that is outside us and hostile but\nrather as a product of our genius through which we obtain what is necessary for\nour lives and that of others. It is a\nspecifically human way of living in the world. \nNevertheless, today\u2019s evolution of technical ability leads to a\ndangerous bewitchment\u2014instead of providing human life with the tools that\nimprove life, we run the risk of handing life over to be ruled those tools and\nthey end up deciding the value of life. \nThis reversal is destined to have terrible consequences: not only will\nmachines operate themselves, they will end up operating humans. Human reason is thus reduced to a thought\nprocess without effects that is unworthy of human beings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nsee, unfortunately, the serious damage caused to the planet, our common home,\nby the indiscriminate use of technology. \nFor this reason, global bioethics is an important front on which to do\nbattle. It reveals our awareness of the\nprofound effects of environmental and social factors on health and life. This is an approach that is very much attuned\nwith the integral ecology that I described and promoted in the Encyclical Laudato\nsi\u2019<\/em>. In addition, in today\u2019s world,\nmarked by close interaction among diverse cultures, we must bring to bear our\nspecific contribution as believers to the search for operational criteria that\ncan be universally shared, that can become points of common reference for those\nwho have the serious responsibility of making decisions at a national and\ninternational level. This also means\ngetting involved in the question of human rights, and their corresponding\nduties. This is the field in which to\ncarry out common research leading to a universal ethic, an area where tradition\nhas addressed many questions by drawing on the patrimony of natural law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\nLetter Humana Communitas<\/em> speaks explicitly of \u201cemergent\u201d and\n\u201cconvergent\u201d technologies. The\npossibility of intervening on living material of ever-decreasing dimensions, of\nprocessing ever greater volumes of data, of monitoring\u2014and\nmanipulating\u2014cognitive and deliberative cerebral processes, has enormous\nimplications. It approaches the\nthreshold of the biological specificity and spiritual uniqueness of humanity. It was in this sense that I stated the\n\u201cdistinctiveness of human life is an absolute good.\u201d (H.C., 4)<\/p>\n\n\n\n This\nbears repeating: \u201cArtificial intelligence, robotics, and other technological\ninnovations are to be used in a way that serves humanity and the protection of\nour common home, rather than the exact opposite, which, as various studies\nreveal, unfortunately often happens.\u201d (Message<\/em>\nto the World Economic Forum at Davos, January 12, 2018) The inherent dignity of\nevery human being is to be firmly fixed at the center of our reflection and our\naction. In\nhis regard, it must be noted that the term \u201cartificial intelligence\u201d\u2014even\nthough it produces a certain effect, can be misleading. The term hides the fact that\u2014despite the\nperformance of certain low-level activities (that was the original connotation\nof the word \u201crobot\u201d)\u2014these automatic actions are qualitatively different from\nthe uniquely human activities of knowing and acting. For this reason, artificial beings can become\ndangerous to society. Likewise, there is\nalready the risk that man will become technologized instead of technology\nbecoming humanized. The so-called\n\u201cintelligent machines\u201d are being too hastily endowed with abilities that are\nspecifically human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nmust understand better what, in this context, are the meanings of intelligence,\nconscience and emotivity, affective intentionality and moral action. Artificial devices that simulate human abilities\nare in fact without human characteristics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\nmust be aware of this in order to orient the regulation of the way machines are\nused, and of related research, toward constructive and fair interaction between\nhuman beings and the most recent machines. \nTheir numbers are in fact increasing throughout the world and they are\ntransforming the way we live our lives. \nIf we are able to make their presence beneficial to our lives, the\nextraordinary possibilities of these new developments will be able to be realized\nby every individual and all of humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ndebate underway among specialists shows the serious problems involved in\ncontrolling the algorithms that process great quantities of data. Likewise, the\ntechnologies for genetic and cerebral manipulation raise serious ethical\nquestions. In any event, the attempt to\nexplain the whole of thought, sensibility, and the human psyche on the basis of\nthe functional sum of their physical and organic parts does not take into\naccount the emergence of the phenomena of experience and consciousness. The human phenomenon surpasses the result of\nthe mere calculable assemblage of its individual elements. Even in this context, the axiom according to\nwhich the whole is greater than the sum of its parts takes on new depth and\nrelevance. (Cf. Exhort. Ap. Evangelii\ngaudium<\/em>, 234-237) <\/p>\n\n\n\n On\nthe other hand, but in this same line of the complex synergy of psiche<\/em>\nand techne<\/em>, that which we learn about cerebral activity provides us with\nnew indications about how to understand consciousness (one\u2019s own and that of\nthe world) and the human body itself. It\nis not possible to prescind from the web of multiple relationships if we are to\nacquire a greater understanding of the entire human dimension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Certainly,\nwe cannot draw conclusions from the data of empirical science. But we can draw from them, even from\ntheology, certain indications that are instructive for our anthropological\nreflections, just as we have done throughout the history of science. It would be decidedly contrary to our most\nvalid tradition to cling to anachronistic conceptual apparatus that is unable\nto dialogue adequately with changes in the concept of nature and constructs, of\nconstraints and freedom, of means and end, that have been introduced by the new\nculture of action proper to the technological age. We are called to place ourselves on the path\ntaken with determination by the Second Vatican Council, which calls for a\nrenewal of theological disciplines and a critical reflection on the\nrelationship between Christian faith and moral action. (cfr. Optatam totius<\/em>, 16)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our\ncommitment\u2014intellectual and specialist\u2014will be a point of pride for us in our\nparticipation in an ethical alliance in favor of human life. It is now urgent, in a context in which ever\nmore sophisticated technological means involve directly the human qualities of\nthe body and the psyche, to develop a project that can be shared with all the\nmen and women engaged in scientific research and in healthcare. This is a difficult task, given the hectic pace\nof innovation. The example of\nintelligent and believing teachers who have embarked with wisdom and boldness\non a voyage of discovery with their contemporaries, with the goal of\nunderstanding the patrimony of faith to a degree that is worthy of man, should\nencourage us and give us support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\nask you to continue your study and research in order that your work of\npromoting and defending life may be ever more effective and fruitful. May the Blessed Mother assist you and my\nblessing accompany you. And please do\nnot forget to pray for me. Thank you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" My Dear Brothers and Sisters, I welcome you most cordially and I thank Archbishop Paglia for his kind words. Our meeting is taking place during a great Jubilee for the Pontifical Academy for Life\u2014 the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of its Founding. For this important occasion, last month I sent a letter entitled Humana Communitas to your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24838,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/cq5dam.web_.1280.1280-3-e1551269027913.jpeg?fit=700%2C466&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5mkxU-6sT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24855"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24855\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24857,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24855\/revisions\/24857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vincenzopaglia.it\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/p>\n\n\n\n