Pope
set to give Catholic Church its first millennial and digital saint
Carlo Acutis died of leukemia in 2006 at age 15. He has been dubbed the
“patron saint of the internet."
In just a few months, the world will have its first digital saint.
Pope Francis on Wednesday announced plans in April to canonize a teenage web designer who documented miracles online and used his tech skills to maintain websites for local Catholic organizations.
Carlo
Acutis, who died of leukemia in Italy in 2006 at age 15, will be
canonized during the Jubilee for Adolescents on April 25-27, according to Vatican News.
The
church has attributed two miracles to Acutis, who was born to Italian
parents in London and was informally known as “God’s influencer.”
In
May, the pope attributed a second miracle to the teen, who is set to
become the church’s youngest contemporary saint. The move came four
years after he was beatified in 2020 after one miracle was attributed to
him.
The Vatican has been preparing for the AI religion:
The algorithm at the service of humankind: Communicating in the age of AI
After Pope Francis’ message
was released for World Communications Day last month, a conference
entitled “The algorithm at the service of humankind. Communicating in
the age of artificial intelligence” took place in the Vatican on
Thursday, 27 June, gathering experts in the fields of AI and
communications to compare ideas and discuss concerns on the issue.
The
digital mission of the “outgoing” Saint Peter’s Basilica: the Microsoft
project “AI-Enhanced Experience” using artificial intelligence Thanks
to the creation of a “virtual twin”, all corners of the Basilica can be
explored, even those the human eye cannot reach, for an immersive
experience accessible to the entire world
VATICAN,
11 NOVEMBER – Saint Peter’s Basilica is entering the virtual space
through a digital model created with the support of artificial
intelligence. The Fabric of Saint Peter and Microsoft have launched “Saint Peter’s Basilica: AI-Enhanced Experience”,
a new project based on cutting-edge technology to enable pilgrims and
visitors from all over the world to admire and interact with Saint
Peter’s Basilica in its inaccessible points, where the human eye cannot
reach. It will be possible to rediscover its history and its role at the
heart of Christianity, as well as that of a precious treasure trove of
art and culture for all humankind.
The
burial place of the apostle Peter, now the seat of the Popes, the
sacred space where so much art and beauty is preserved, thanks to the
genius of Bramante and Michelangelo, Bernini and Raphael, Maderno and
Canova, and many others, can be explored and studied as never before.
Microsoft has
played a central role in the project, the first ever with AI technology
in a sacred place of such importance, making it eternal, a new work of
art of modernity.
It is an innovative choice desired by Cardinal Gambetti,
archpriest of the Basilica and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter,
who secured the full cooperation of Microsoft in order to open the doors
of the Basilica - precisely on the occasion of the next Jubilee - to
the world, to give its spirituality, culture and beauty to all,
especially to those who will be unable to reach Rome during the Holy
Year.
The project
The
genesis of the project dates back two years, involving the best
international professionals with the valuable contribution of experts
and scholars from the Fabric of Saint Peter.
For
three weeks, drones, cameras and lasers captured over 400,000
high-resolution images inside the Basilica, which were then used to
create an ultra-precise 3D model, known as a digital twin.
The images thus generated by artificial intelligence, derived from
photogrammetric data, improved the visualization both of the interior
and exterior of the Basilica, helping experts and the public to explore
the polychrome of the monument.
Elaboration of the data based on artificial intelligence
Microsoft’s AI for Good Lab elaborated the vast quantity of photogrammetric data provided by the French Iconem team,
perfecting the digital twin with millimetric precision. The AI
algorithms filled in the gaps, improved the details and created a
seamless virtual reconstruction.
Artificial intelligence in support of restoration and conservation
In
addition, in this case, artificial intelligence helped highlight and
map the Basilica’s structural vulnerabilities, such as cracks and
missing tesserae in the mosaics, to help guide future conservation work.
7 lessons learned from the Vatican's artificial intelligence symposium
Sometime before December 2019, Bishop Paul Tighe, secretary of the Pontifical Council of Culture,
and Michael Koch, then the German ambassador to the Holy See, had a
series of discussions on the long-term societal and philosophical
ramifications of artificial intelligence that led them to jointly
sponsor a symposium, "The Challenge of Artificial Intelligence for Human Society and the Idea of the Human Person."
Originally
planned for June 4, 2020, the symposium, finally held on Oct. 21, 2021,
was the first in-person conference hosted by anyone from the Vatican
Curia since the outbreak of COVID-19. Along with the six presenters, two
moderators and two chairs, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, council
president, and Ambassador Bernhard Kotsch, Koch's successor, hosted more
than 100 attendees: many ambassadors, journalists, local faculty and
members of the Vatican Curia at the famed Palazzo della Cancelleria.
The topic was not a new interest of Tighe's. In September 2019, his office, along with Cardinal Peter Turkson's Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, hosted a three-day seminar on "The Common Good in the Digital Age"
with leaders from the digital industry and from concerned
nongovernmental organizations, as well as members of the academy and the
Curia. Tighe is a natural at bringing together a wide variety of
disparate stakeholders as necessary interlocutors.
MESSAGE
OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS FOR THE 58th WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL
COMMUNICATIONS Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart:
Towards a Fully Human Communication
Dear brothers and sisters!
The
development of systems of artificial intelligence, to which I devoted
my recent Message for the World Day of Peace, is radically affecting the
world of information and communication, and through it, certain
foundations of life in society. These changes affect everyone, not
merely professionals in those fields. The rapid spread of astonishing
innovations, whose workings and potential are beyond the ability of most
of us to understand and appreciate, has proven both exciting and
disorienting. This leads inevitably to deeper questions about the nature
of human beings, our distinctiveness and the future of the species homo sapiens
in the age of artificial intelligence. How can we remain fully human
and guide this cultural transformation to serve a good purpose?
Starting with the heart
Before
all else, we need to set aside catastrophic predictions and their
numbing effects. A century ago, Romano Guardini reflected on technology
and humanity. Guardini urged us not to reject “the new” in an attempt to
“preserve a beautiful world condemned to disappear”. At the same time,
he prophetically warned that “we are constantly in the process of
becoming. We must enter into this process, each in his or her own way,
with openness but also with sensitivity to everything that is
destructive and inhumane therein”. And he concluded: “These are
technical, scientific and political problems, but they cannot be
resolved except by starting from our humanity. A new kind of human being
must take shape, endowed with a deeper spirituality and new freedom and
interiority”. [1]
At
this time in history, which risks becoming rich in technology and poor
in humanity, our reflections must begin with the human heart. [2]
Only by adopting a spiritual way of viewing reality, only by recovering
a wisdom of the heart, can we confront and interpret the newness of our
time and rediscover the path to a fully human communication. In the
Bible, the heart is seen as the place of freedom and decision-making. It
symbolizes integrity and unity, but it also engages our emotions,
desires, dreams; it is, above all, the inward place of our encounter
with God. Wisdom of the heart, then, is the virtue that enables us to
integrate the whole and its parts, our decisions and their consequences,
our nobility and our vulnerability, our past and our future, our
individuality and our membership within a larger community.
Here is where the Pope sounds like a WEF spokesperson, glorifying the technocratic transhumanist AI age
The
digital revolution can bring us greater freedom, but not if it
imprisons us in models that nowadays are called “echo chambers”. In such
cases, rather than increasing a pluralism of information, we risk
finding ourselves adrift in a mire of confusion, prey to the interests
of the market or of the powers that be. It is unacceptable that the use
of artificial intelligence should lead to groupthink, to a gathering of
unverified data, to a collective editorial dereliction of duty. The
representation of reality in “big data”, however useful for the
operation of machines, ultimately entails a substantial loss of the
truth of things, hindering interpersonal communication and threatening
our very humanity. Information cannot be separated from living
relationships. These involve the body and immersion in the real world;
they involve correlating not only data but also human experiences; they
require sensitivity to faces and facial expressions, compassion and
sharing.
Here
I think of the reporting of wars and the “parallel war” being waged
through campaigns of disinformation. I think too of all those reporters
who have been injured or killed in the line of duty in order to enable
us to see what they themselves had seen. For only by such direct contact
with the suffering of children, women and men, can we come to
appreciate the absurdity of wars.
The
use of artificial intelligence can make a positive contribution to the
communications sector, provided it does not eliminate the role of
journalism on the ground but serves to support it. Provided too that it
values the professionalism of communication, making every communicator
more aware of his or her responsibilities, and enables all people to be,
as they should, discerning participants in the work of communication.
Here is the Popes message to WEF Davos meeting:
Global Cooperation Davos 24: Pope Francis Calls for Peace and 'Authentic Development'
This
year’s annual meeting of the World Economic Forum takes place in a very
troubling climate of international instability. Your Forum, which aims
to guide and strengthen political will and mutual cooperation, provides
an important opportunity for multi-stakeholder engagement to explore
innovative and effective ways to build a better world. It is my hope
that your discussions will take into account the urgent need to advance
social cohesion, fraternity, and reconciliation among groups,
communities, and states, in order to address the challenges before us.
The peace for which the peoples of our world yearn cannot be other than the fruit of justice (cf. Isaiah 32:17).
Consequently, it calls for more than simply setting aside the
instruments of war; it demands addressing the injustices that are the
root causes of conflict. Among the most significant of these is hunger,
which continues to plague entire regions of the world, even as others
are marked by excessive food waste. The exploitation of natural
resources continues to enrich a few while leaving entire populations,
who are the natural beneficiaries of these resources, in a state of
destitution and poverty. Nor can we disregard the widespread
exploitation of men, women and children forced to work for low wages and
deprived of real prospects for personal development and professional
growth. How is it possible that in today’s world people are still dying
of hunger, being exploited, condemned to illiteracy, lacking basic
medical care, and left without shelter?
The
process of globalization, which has by now clearly demonstrated the
interdependence of the world’s nations and peoples, thus has a
fundamentally moral dimension, which must make itself felt in the
economic, cultural, political and religious discussions that aim to
shape the future of the international community. In a world increasingly
threatened by violence, aggression and fragmentation, it is essential
that states and businesses join in promoting far-sighted and ethically
sound models of globalization, which by their very nature must entail
subordinating the pursuit of power and individual gain, be it political
or economic, to the common good of our human family, giving priority to
the poor, the needy and those in the most vulnerable situations.
For
its part, the world of business and finance now operates in ever
broader economic contexts, where national states have a limited capacity
to govern rapid changes in international economic and financial
relations. This situation requires that businesses themselves be
increasingly guided not simply by the pursuit of fair profit, but also
by high ethical standards, especially with regard to the less developed
countries, which should not be at the mercy of abusive or usurious
financial systems. A farsighted approach to these issues will prove
decisive in meeting the goal of an integral development of humanity in
solidarity. Authentic development must be global, shared by all nations
and in every part of the world, or it will regress even in areas marked
hitherto by constant progress.
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