Pope Francis’ Call For AI Regulation Receives First Blowback From Virginia Senator

Days before, Pope Francis called for a binding global AI treaty. A top democrat senator from Virginia said lawmakers have much more work to do on AI regulation before committing to a binding global AI treaty.

Pope Francis Calls For Global Binding AI Treaty

On 14th Dec, Pope Francis called for a globally binding treaty on AI that will lead to the ethical development of AI. He emphasized the lack of compassion, mercy, morality, and forgiveness in AI, and failing to regulate it could pose a risk to the survival of humanity.

We must make sure that Artificial Intelligence is put at the service of peace in the world, rather than being a threat, and that it make a beneficial contribution on humanity future. I have dedicated the Message for the World Day of Peace to this. #WDP2024 @vaticanIHD

— Pope Francis (@Pontifex) December 14, 2023

He released a long message for World Peace Day, 1 Jan 2024. The message consisted of 9 important sections, starting with the progress of science and technology as a path to peace.

Pope Francis continued the message about the future of AI with a focus on its capabilities and risks. All further points are related to the risks of AI and technology development, the limits, and the ethics of tech and AI development.

Virginia Senator: US Not Ready To Join A Binding Treaty

Sen. Mark Warner (D), the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told politico in a statement that US lawmakers have much more work to do on AI regulation before the US can join a global treaty.

“There is more work to do at the national level before we can establish global obligations and restrictions on the use of AI,” Warner said in a statement.

This comes after EU lawmakers reached a landmark deal on AI regulations that will cover the ethical development of AI, limiting risks while encouraging development.

“Congress and governments around the world have an obligation to ensure that innovation in AI happens responsibly with appropriate safeguards in place,” he told POLITICO in the email.

Earlier, Sen. Warner warned about playing catchup with technology and not to regulate in a one big giant regulation. He said that it might not be possible to regulate in one go.

With Intel releasing AI chips and calling AI everywhere, 18 other nations joining together to regulate AI, Google releasing Bard, Gemini, OpenAI’s ChatGPT, lawmakers are looking to regulate without hindering innovative AI development.