Holy See: Technology should better human life, not take it
The Holy See has reiterated Pope Francis’ call for a ban on lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), saying technological progress should be used to improve human life, not allowed to take lives.
By Devin Watkins
Archbishop Ettore Balestrero recently spoke at a UN forum in Geneva about the need to closely monitor the development of lethal autonomous weapons systems (LAWS), colloquially known as “killer robots.”
The Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva addressed the second session of the 2024 Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in LAWS on 26 August.
Opening his speech, Archbishop Balestrero reiterated Pope Francis’ words to G7 leaders in June 2024 on the need to ban laws.
On that occasion, the Pope said that human beings must always remain in control of any weapon system, adding: “No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being.”
The archbishop said the Holy See is seeking to conclude a legally binding agreement to regulate research into the use of artificial intelligence (AI) as a weapon and to establish a moratorium on its development and use.
He deplored that countries were using war theatres to test SALA systems.
“It is deeply distressing,” he said, “to see that, in addition to the suffering caused by armed conflict, battlefields are also becoming testing grounds for increasingly sophisticated weapons.”
Archbishop Balestrero said the Holy See supports UN efforts to analyze the “potential functions and technological aspects of autonomous weapons systems” in order to properly assess whether they comply with existing standards and international regulations.
The archbishop added that the Holy See maintains that LAWs can never be considered “morally responsible entities.”
“The human person, endowed with reason, has a unique capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making that cannot be reproduced by any set of algorithms, no matter how complex,” he said.
Archbishop Balestrero stressed the ethical difference between a “choice” and a “decision.”
A decision, he said, requires a practical assessment that goes beyond a simple choice and involves taking into account values and duties.
“While emphasizing that machines only produce technical algorithmic choices,” he said, “Pope Francis recalled that “human beings, however, not only choose, but are in their hearts capable of deciding.”
This is why, Archbishop Balestrero stressed, the Holy See calls for deliberate language that refers to human dignity and ethical considerations.
He said international agreements must “guarantee and preserve a space of appropriate human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs: human dignity itself depends on it.”
In conclusion, the representative of the Holy See in Geneva said that the development of more sophisticated weapons is not the solution to the world’s problems.
“The undeniable benefits that humanity will be able to draw from current technological progress,” he said, “will depend on the extent to which this progress is accompanied by an adequate development of responsibility and values that place technological advances at the service of integral human development and the common good.”
