Technological progress and the risk of an artificial heart (Part 3/3)
If you had to choose, which aspects of your life would you turn into a robotic shell, ready to be automated?
In Caritas in Veritate (“Charity in truth”), the third and last encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, the Pope wrote that “technology is highly attractive because it draws us out of our physical limitations and broadens our horizon. But human freedom is authentic only when it responds to the fascination of technology with decisions that are the fruit of moral responsibility.”
In this third and final piece on technological progress and the risk of an artificial heart, I explore how we must educate and leave space for three fundamental dimensions of the human being: freedom, relationality, and transcendence. Whether or not you’re religious, I think these principles apply to mitigate the risks of exploitation and make sure we still feel human. Not machines stuck in the cog.
You can read Part One and Part Two of this article here.
Technological positivism
It’s a shame that, blindsighted by engineering marvels, there isn’t greater scientific interest in understanding “why” things work the way they work. Too often, we skip the phase of profound knowledge of reality and move directly to the practical use of technology because it “works” (more or less!). This reflects an unrelenting technological positivism: if a technology works and produces profit, then it must be adopted. This approach risks neglecting more profound reflections on the ethical and social implications of the technologies we adopt.
Underlined in Caritas in Veritate, Benedict XVI wrote:
“But when the sole criterion of truth is efficiency and utility, development is automatically denied. True development does not consist primarily in ‘doing’.”
Excessive engineering and scientific neglect in the development of artificial intelligence risk not bringing real progress, even from a cognitive point of view. Indeed,
“The key to development is a mind capable of thinking in technological terms and grasping the fully human meaning of human activities, within the context of the holistic meaning of the individual's being. Even when we work through satellites or through remote electronic impulses, our actions always remain human, an expression of our responsible freedom.“
Let’s consider the recent use of AI-equipped weapons in conflicts in the Middle East. Its action always remains human, an expression of responsible freedom. There is a big debate: who is responsible?
On another camp, today’s debate about the role and responsibility of social media companies is more heated than ever. These companies take refuge behind the famous Section 230 law in the United States, which exempts platforms such as Facebook or Google from responsibility for the content published by their users. But if this protection didn’t exist, would they be as ready to launch potentially dangerous algorithms onto the market so carelessly?
Fascination with technology and moral responsibility
Technology exerts an intense fascination on man, freeing him from physical limitations and broadening his horizons, as Caritas in Veritate underlines. However, true human freedom is only manifested when we respond to the allure of technology with decisions that reflect profound moral responsibility.
“Technology is highly attractive because it draws us out of our physical limitations and broadens our horizon. But human freedom is authentic only when it responds to the fascination of technology with decisions that are the fruit of moral responsibility. Hence the pressing need for formation in an ethically responsible use of technology. Moving beyond the fascination that technology exerts, we must reappropriate the true meaning of freedom, which is not an intoxication with total autonomy, but a response to the call of being, beginning with our own personal being.”
If we stop to reflect on the concept we have of ourselves, we can notice how human dignity is increasingly being questioned. A palpable example of this phenomenon is also found in an area tacitly accepted by all: we now only read news on media where algorithms automatically generate and suggest. In my opinion, human dignity is diminished when we become mere objects of commercial exchange between advertisers and social media platforms, where we ourselves are the product. Our attention becomes a gear to be activated to generate profit.
Human dignity
What dignity can a person have if they are only considered part of a mechanism? Even human work, on the other hand, is increasingly reduced to pure automatism. Speaking frequently in schools, I see teachers questioning how to respond to the surging waves of technologies, particularly their role in education and teaching young people how to use them. Teachers themselves need to be trained to understand these technologies. However, teaching, a profoundly human discipline based on interpersonal relationships, risks losing its essence if reduced to merely dispensing bureaucratic rules in predefined, “engineered” processes.
We have already mechanized the teaching profession; now, we shouldn’t be surprised if machines can do the job more efficiently or less expensively. The problem, however, is deeper and lies in our decisions about which aspects of our lives we are willing to transform into a robotic shell in which automation can thrive.
We cannot be victims of artificial intelligence
We must think carefully about these choices. We cannot afford to be victims, as has happened with the development of social media, which promoted convenience and immediacy, only to discover, years later, that we have contributed to increased rates of depression and suicide among adolescents. Now we ask ourselves: how do we get out of this situation?
What is our task? We have already discussed the importance of education, but we must ask ourselves: educate for what?
I would say, first of all, to freedom, trying to promote, in schools and social places, a context in which authentic relationality is not only online. We must educate and leave space for three fundamental dimensions of the human being: freedom, relationality and transcendence. A human being who is reduced to less than these three essential pillars ends up being mechanically exploited by technologies. In the message of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith entitled Dignitas Infinita (2024), it is stated:
“Although there is now a rather general consensus on the importance and also on the normative scope of the dignity and unique and transcendent value of every human being, [14] the expression ‘dignity of the human person’ often risks lending itself to many meanings and therefore to possible misunderstandings [15] and “contradictions that lead us to ask ourselves whether the equal dignity of all human beings [...] is truly recognised, respected, protected and promoted in all circumstances” [...] The most important meaning is that linked to the ontological dignity that belongs to the person as such for the sole fact of existing and of being wanted, created and loved by God. This dignity can never be canceled and remains valid beyond of every circumstance in which individuals may find themselves.”
Educate who man is
It is essential to understand who the human person really is when making decisions about how to adopt, use, and educate people about technology. When we talk about educating a person, we must first of all have a clear definition of what “person” means. I conclude with an anecdote that I found both interesting and funny and that I had the opportunity to watch recently.
During the famous TED conference in America, numerous representatives from the world of artificial intelligence were among the speakers. One of them, who I find particularly interesting, is Mustafa Suleyman, who co-founded DeepMind, the AI lab that Google acquired and now merged with Google Brain, known under the name Google DeepMind. Recently, Suleyman founded another company working on language models similar to ChatGPT and has now been hired by Microsoft to lead a new division focused on AI development.
Suleyman was among the first, in 2010, to talk about AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) and the dream of creating an “artificial general intelligence”. However, in this book published last week, “The Coming Wave”, he distances himself from the term AGI. He introduces the concept of “artificial capable intelligence” (ACI), where the emphasis is placed on a technology increasingly capable of performing tasks and making decisions that were previously not delegated to computers or technologies.
In his TED talk, Suleyman emphasizes the need to precisely define the language and metaphors used when talking about AI. He points out that confusing people into thinking that a superintelligence is being created, destined to destroy the world, is not helpful. He uses the metaphor of “introducing a new digital species” to describe the advancement of AI, thus underlining the importance of a clear and responsible approach to discussing these technologies.
Artificial intelligence is an extension of us all
In a sense, artificial intelligence is an extension of all of us – ”AI is all of us,” says Suleyman. For example, GPT was trained on all human knowledge published on the internet, thus representing, in some way, a synthesis of humanity. This aspect may be ironic, considering that sometimes this representation is literally accurate—A recent scandal revealed that Amazon’s automatic checkout system at supermarkets relied not on advanced artificial intelligence but on a team of low-paid people engaged in real-time labeling of products scanned by Amazon’s supermarket cameras. In that case, the AI was, indeed, a group of people!
However, returning to Suleyman’s idea, the metaphor of “introducing a new digital species” remains intriguing and fascinating despite its limitations. If we take this metaphor seriously, we are forced to think deeply about fundamental questions: What is AI? It is us, “all of us.”
So, who are we? What is the human being? The answers to these questions will influence the type of artificial intelligence we develop.
A weekly Substack exploring the ethical issues of AI, actionable insights to shape the future of work, and understanding what defines humanity in the age of artificial intelligence.