Magnifica Humanitas Ch 3: We Need to Do Something

Success in creating effective AI could be the biggest event in the history of our civilization. Or the worst. Stephen Hawking

Pope Leo began Magnifica Humanitas with a long explanation of the historical and theological basis for the Catholic teaching on what the Church calls the “dignity of the human person.” 

What this means in simple terms that ordinary people can apply to their decisions and the way they live their lives, is that human beings — and that means all of us, without excluding anyone — possess a unique value in the order of creation that comes from God. 

Every human being possesses inalienable rights that come from God.

Each one of us possesses — not is “entitled to,” but possesses — a basic right to life, a right to freedom and self-determination, a right to live in societies which are governed and ordered in such a way that we have access to the goods and opportunities that provide for both the basics of physical life and the opportunities which would allow us to grow and expand our mental, moral and spiritual capabilities.

These rights are our possession. They belong to each and every one of us from the moment of our conception to the moment of our natural death. 

Any government, any social custom, any philosophy, any false interpretation of Scripture, any invention or technology which attacks this basic, God-given “dignity of the human person” is, by definition, morally illegitimate. 

The rights of human beings impose grave moral responsibility on the development of AI.

Pope Leo teaches us in Chapter 3 of Magnfica Humanitas that this “dignity of the human person” has real moral implications. These moral implications impose grave moral responsibility for the future of humanity. 

This moral responsibility applies in a generic fashion to the way AI is developed and who is allowed to wield the power of developing AI and of owning it. What I mean is that we have a responsibility — all of us — to decide what we are going to allow and what we will not allow. 

This moral obligation applies to each one of us individually in the things we demand of our government and the things we will tolerate from those who govern us. 

It applies in an especially powerful way to the developers and owners of AI. Some of them appear to be so drunk with the power their vast wealth has given them that they view themselves as different and superior to the human race of which they are a part. This is not just hubris. It is dangerous delusion. 

The developers and owners of AI are human beings, and they are subject to the moral order. They are morally responsible for the technology they develop and how it either enhances the dignity of the human person or attacks and diminishes it. 

It is up to us to petition our government and to the politicians who run our government to make sure that they are legally accountable, as well. 

AI is changing too fast one for there to be a one and done solution to the challenges it represents.

Pope Leo makes the point that anything we do with AI will have to be modified going forward because AI is developing and changing at such a fast pace. This is complicated by the fact that no one, including the people developing AI, fully understands the way it functions. This makes it imperative that we put in the research to get a handle on AI, and that we do so with the full exercise of moral and spiritual discernment. 

AI development is acquiring vast amounts of financial and social resources that are just being handed over to a few people without question, discussion or debate.

They are building massive data centers which devour the resources of whole states and regions. Much of the cost of these data centers is being paid by ordinary people in the form of huge monetary government grants and tax favors. These monies will ultimately have to come from the public purse that rightfully belongs to all the people.

The other long-term costs of AI data centers arrive in higher electric bills, and the reduction of  availability of essential natural resources such as water. The bulk of these costs will be borne by ordinary people. 

At the same time, no one is consulting ordinary people as to whether or not they want these things. 

AI development is absorbing the capital of the entire economy.

AI developers are acquiring vast amounts of capital through the stock market, private capital, loans and other sources. Once again no one is asking any questions. Financial institutions are just blindly handing over the money on what is basically a wink and a promise. They are allowing themselves, their institutions, and the entire economic system to be driven by AI development.

Ownership and development of AI is controlled by a handful of massively wealthy people who do not answer to anyone.

All this points to something Pope Leo warns will lead to a bad end. That is the fact that control and development of AI is being controlled by a handful of massively wealthy people who do not answer to anyone. At the present time, nobody and nothing is setting limits on what these wealthy few can do. 

The Holy Father reminds us that AI will reflect the values and cultural assumptions of the people who designed and trained it. Given the narrowness of outlook of the people who currently own AI development, coupled with the power of AI to ultimately control human thinking and behavior, this is the recipe for mass abuse of whole populations. 

From Magnifica Humanitas:

AI tends to amplify the power of those who already possess economic resources, expertise and access to data. In light of the common good and the universal destination of goods, this raises serious concerns, since small but highly influential groups can shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes and steer economic dynamics to their own advantage, undermining social justice and solidarity among peoples. 

 It is essential that the use of AI, especially when it touches on public goods and fundamental rights, be guided by clear criteria and effective oversight, grounded in participation and subsidiarity. 

Moreover, ownership of data cannot be left solely in private hands but must be appropriately regulated. Data is the product of many contributors and should not be treated as something to be sold off.

We are already seeing the first abuse in action, which is the concentration of all the decision-making and governing power, along with our resources, in the hands of a very small number of people. If we allow AI to become the instrument by which this small group of people controls and manipulates every aspect of our lives, then we will be giving them to power to reduce the value of a human being to the level of what serves them.

Here is how Pope Leo describes what we are facing:

In many cases within the digital context, control over platforms, infrastructure, data and computing power does not rest with States, but with major economic and technological actors. These entities effectively set the conditions for access, determine the rules of visibility and shape the very possibilities for participation. When such power is concentrated in the hands of a few, it tends to become opaque and evade public oversight, increasing the risk of distorted forms of development that give rise to new dependencies, exclusions, manipulations and inequalities. 

The Holy Father tells us that AI must be developed with a respect for human dignity and the goal of serving the common good. 

For AI to respect human dignity and truly serve the common good, responsibility must be clearly defined at every stage: from those who design and develop these systems to those who use them and rely on them for concrete decisions. 

… accountability becomes crucial: the possibility of identifying who must “account” for decisions, justify them, monitor them, and, when necessary, challenge them and remedy any harm caused. 

… robust legal frameworks, independent oversight, informed users and a political system that does not abdicate its responsibility are required. Otherwise, change will be governed only by technocratic thinking and presented as necessary and inevitable, ultimately imposing rules shaped by those who control data, infrastructure and computing power.

Pope Leo teaches that it is not enough to just make statements that machines should be moral, and to call for an “alignment of AI with human values.” 

As they say here in Okieland, talk is cheap. 

We’re going to have to do something. We all need to stop sleep-walking through this and use our agency as free human beings to demand a more open and human way of development of AI than we are seeing now. 

Note: AI is already being posited in some circles as an alternate life form that is equal or superior to human life. I’ll write a post about what Chapter 3 says about that tomorrow.