CatholicTech Co-sponsors Conference

Robert F. Kennedy once said that to wish a man live in interesting times was a curse. He then pointed out that his people were most definitely living in interesting times. The same is true today. Cultural and technological revolutions continually shake the foundations of our society, and the ripples are felt in even our most established institutions. One such revolution is the lightning-quick advancement of AI technology. The Catholic Institute of Technology collaborated with the Angelicum last week to sponsor a conference addressing this revolution.

The conference was held a week ago Wednesday at the Angelicum, and consisted of talks from several prestigious scientists, along with a breakout session led by CatholicTech co-founder Alexis Haughey and professor Victor Luchangco. While the other talks were focused on integrating AI into society using Aquinas’ idea of the common good as a guide, Victor and Alexis dove into the actual technology behind AI, and some of the ethical issues that stem from it.

Artificial intelligence, Victor and Alexis pointed out, can be many things. It is a machine that can do one of the following:

• Think
• Perform tasks that require intelligence
• Mimic the human brain/nervous system

…or one of several other tasks. The pair then delved into Machine Learning, the construction of AIs that can learn from data to make decisions without being explicitly programmed for a specific task. One such technology is OpenAI’s GPT model series, which performs tasks from math to essay-writing without having been designed specially for either.

The final topic was the ethical implications of Machine Learning, especially the harvesting of huge amounts of data which is required to create them. This issue was a good example of how technical understanding helps with ethical questions: to make an informed decision on what data will be used to train AI, you have to understand how that data is really being used. Questions of copyright and confidentiality can only be answered with technical expertise and scientific understanding.

The conference’s other talks included AI and contemporary culture, by Professor Gabor Ambrus, and How can AI conserve the common good through business? by Professor Alejo Sisson. Professors Ambrus and Sisson have each held numerous prestigious appointments, and were ideal choices to lead these discussions. Their talks also illustrate the breadth of this topic, which influences every aspect of our lives, from business to art. It’s an immediate and important issue, and this conference was an important part of the discussion.

The AI revolution relates closely to CatholicTech’s mission. Our world is in a state of drastic and continual change, where traditional values and institutions are constantly challenged. As Catholics, we recognize the transcendental realities that stand above all this. Human nature and God’s law do not change, but the environment in which they exist does. Because of this, it’s essential that the Church and her institutions both safeguard our understanding of the transcendental and teach the world how to reckon with them. And to teach, we must first learn.

Our new pope recognizes this reality with an admirable clarity of vision. In his first public address to the assembled cardinals in Rome, he explained why he chose the name Leo XIV:

“There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice and labor.”

The pope’s words are a clear affirmation of CatholicTech’s mission: to help the world follow God’s will using the best of science and technology. The role of the laity in evangelization has grown in recent years, and we are committed to doing our part in this grand effort, bringing scientists and philosophers together, under the guidance of the Church, to advise and assist in Her teaching. We will end now with another quote from our new pope:

“Dear brothers, I would like to conclude the first part of our meeting by making my own – and proposing to you as well – the hope that Saint Paul VI expressed at the inauguration of his Petrine Ministry in 1963: “May it pass over the whole world like a great flame of faith and love kindled in all men and women of goodwill. May it shed light on paths of mutual cooperation and bless humanity abundantly, now and always, with the very strength of God, without whose help nothing is valid, nothing is holy”

Dominic Andres | PR & Marketing