Pope Francis Says If AI Fails Mankind, It Would Lead To Barbarism

Joining the illustrious list of names like Elon Musk, Jack Ma and Stephen Hawking, Pope Francis this week sounded alarm bells regarding the increasing use of artificial intelligence. Speaking at a Vatican tech conference, Pope Francis was of the opinion that technology needed both "theoretical as well as moral principals". According to a report by a noted news agency, Pope Francis said, "The remarkable developments in the field of technology, in particular, those dealing with AI, 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.” He was wary of the misuses of AI and warned the gathering about the fake news and false data that could snowball into real political and social tensions. "If mankind’s so-called technological progress were to become an enemy of the common good, this would lead to an unfortunate regression to a form of barbarism dictated by the law of the strongest,” he added. Last year, Infosys co-founder and celebrated corporate thought leader NR Narayana Murthy had also said that AI was “worrisome” for freshers in the IT sector. Murthy is only one in a long string of influential personalities who have sounded the alarm bells regarding automation, AI, and its effect on employment. US’ former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had also said that millions of jobs would be on the line if automated machines and applications were implemented on a large scale. While many noted names such as physicist Stephen Hawking and Tesla and SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk have already sounded alarm bells with regards to AI and its potential harm, there are others who don’t concur.