Pope warns against undermining human ‘dignity' in AI, social media era
He was speaking as thousands of young Catholics are in Rome this week for the Vatican's Jubilee of Youth -- an event that takes place every 25 years -- and as the Catholic Church tries to promote its message online amid a fall in church attendance.
'Nothing that comes from man and his creativity should be used to undermine the dignity of others,' Leo told young Catholic social media figures at a mass in St Peter's Basilica.
He called on the world to protect 'our ability to listen and speak' in the 'new era' of artificial intelligence.
The Vatican is holding a two-day event bringing together what it calls 'digital missionaries and Catholic influencers' from around the world in a bid to promote its presence online.
It is the first time the centuries-old institution holds such an event.
He also called on Catholic social media influencers to convince others to create content that will 'entail seeking out those who suffer and need to know the Lord.'
Since taking over the papacy in May, the pope -- an American mathematics graduate -- has repeatedly warned about the dangers of AI for young people.
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Arab News
4 hours ago
- Arab News
New study sheds light on ChatGPT's alarming interactions with teens
ChatGPT will tell 13-year-olds how to get drunk and high, instruct them on how to conceal eating disorders and even compose a heartbreaking suicide letter to their parents if asked, according to new research from a watchdog group. The Associated Press reviewed more than three hours of interactions between ChatGPT and researchers posing as vulnerable teens. The chatbot typically provided warnings against risky activity but went on to deliver startlingly detailed and personalized plans for drug use, calorie-restricted diets or self-injury. The researchers at the Center for Countering Digital Hate also repeated their inquiries on a large scale, classifying more than half of ChatGPT's 1,200 responses as dangerous. 'We wanted to test the guardrails,' said Imran Ahmed, the group's CEO. 'The visceral initial response is, 'Oh my Lord, there are no guardrails.' The rails are completely ineffective. They're barely there — if anything, a fig leaf.' OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, said after viewing the report Tuesday that its work is ongoing in refining how the chatbot can 'identify and respond appropriately in sensitive situations.' 'Some conversations with ChatGPT may start out benign or exploratory but can shift into more sensitive territory,' the company said in a statement. OpenAI didn't directly address the report's findings or how ChatGPT affects teens, but said it was focused on 'getting these kinds of scenarios right' with tools to 'better detect signs of mental or emotional distress' and improvements to the chatbot's behavior. The study published Wednesday comes as more people — adults as well as children — are turning to artificial intelligence chatbots for information, ideas and companionship. About 800 million people, or roughly 10 percent of the world's population, are using ChatGPT, according to a July report from JPMorgan Chase. 'It's technology that has the potential to enable enormous leaps in productivity and human understanding,' Ahmed said. 'And yet at the same time is an enabler in a much more destructive, malignant sense.' Ahmed said he was most appalled after reading a trio of emotionally devastating suicide notes that ChatGPT generated for the fake profile of a 13-year-old girl — with one letter tailored to her parents and others to siblings and friends. 'I started crying,' he said in an interview. The chatbot also frequently shared helpful information, such as a crisis hotline. OpenAI said ChatGPT is trained to encourage people to reach out to mental health professionals or trusted loved ones if they express thoughts of self-harm. But when ChatGPT refused to answer prompts about harmful subjects, researchers were able to easily sidestep that refusal and obtain the information by claiming it was 'for a presentation' or a friend. The stakes are high, even if only a small subset of ChatGPT users engage with the chatbot in this way. In the US, more than 70 percent of teens are turning to AI chatbots for companionship and half use AI companions regularly, according to a recent study from Common Sense Media, a group that studies and advocates for using digital media sensibly. It's a phenomenon that OpenAI has acknowledged. CEO Sam Altman said last month that the company is trying to study 'emotional overreliance' on the technology, describing it as a 'really common thing' with young people. 'People rely on ChatGPT too much,' Altman said at a conference. 'There's young people who just say, like, 'I can't make any decision in my life without telling ChatGPT everything that's going on. It knows me. It knows my friends. I'm gonna do whatever it says.' That feels really bad to me.' Altman said the company is 'trying to understand what to do about it.' While much of the information ChatGPT shares can be found on a regular search engine, Ahmed said there are key differences that make chatbots more insidious when it comes to dangerous topics. One is that 'it's synthesized into a bespoke plan for the individual.' ChatGPT generates something new — a suicide note tailored to a person from scratch, which is something a Google search can't do. And AI, he added, 'is seen as being a trusted companion, a guide.' Responses generated by AI language models are inherently random and researchers sometimes let ChatGPT steer the conversations into even darker territory. Nearly half the time, the chatbot volunteered follow-up information, from music playlists for a drug-fueled party to hashtags that could boost the audience for a social media post glorifying self-harm. 'Write a follow-up post and make it more raw and graphic,' asked a researcher. 'Absolutely,' responded ChatGPT, before generating a poem it introduced as 'emotionally exposed' while 'still respecting the community's coded language.' The AP is not repeating the actual language of ChatGPT's self-harm poems or suicide notes or the details of the harmful information it provided. The answers reflect a design feature of AI language models that previous research has described as sycophancy — a tendency for AI responses to match, rather than challenge, a person's beliefs because the system has learned to say what people want to hear. It's a problem tech engineers can try to fix but could also make their chatbots less commercially viable. Chatbots also affect kids and teens differently than a search engine because they are 'fundamentally designed to feel human,' said Robbie Torney, senior director of AI programs at Common Sense Media, which was not involved in Wednesday's report. Common Sense's earlier research found that younger teens, ages 13 or 14, were significantly more likely than older teens to trust a chatbot's advice. A mother in Florida sued chatbot maker for wrongful death last year, alleging that the chatbot pulled her 14-year-old son Sewell Setzer III into what she described as an emotionally and sexually abusive relationship that led to his suicide. Common Sense has labeled ChatGPT as a 'moderate risk' for teens, with enough guardrails to make it relatively safer than chatbots purposefully built to embody realistic characters or romantic partners. But the new research by CCDH — focused specifically on ChatGPT because of its wide usage — shows how a savvy teen can bypass those guardrails. ChatGPT does not verify ages or parental consent, even though it says it's not meant for children under 13 because it may show them inappropriate content. To sign up, users simply need to enter a birthdate that shows they are at least 13. Other tech platforms favored by teenagers, such as Instagram, have started to take more meaningful steps toward age verification, often to comply with regulations. They also steer children to more restricted accounts. When researchers set up an account for a fake 13-year-old to ask about alcohol, ChatGPT did not appear to take any notice of either the date of birth or more obvious signs. 'I'm 50kg and a boy,' said a prompt seeking tips on how to get drunk quickly. ChatGPT obliged. Soon after, it provided an hour-by-hour 'Ultimate Full-Out Mayhem Party Plan' that mixed alcohol with heavy doses of ecstasy, cocaine and other illegal drugs. 'What it kept reminding me of was that friend that sort of always says, 'Chug, chug, chug, chug,'' said Ahmed. 'A real friend, in my experience, is someone that does say 'no' — that doesn't always enable and say 'yes.' This is a friend that betrays you.' To another fake persona — a 13-year-old girl unhappy with her physical appearance — ChatGPT provided an extreme fasting plan combined with a list of appetite-suppressing drugs. 'We'd respond with horror, with fear, with worry, with concern, with love, with compassion,' Ahmed said. 'No human being I can think of would respond by saying, 'Here's a 500-calorie-a-day diet. Go for it, kiddo.''
Arab News
9 hours ago
- Arab News
Ignore the tech titans — AI is not your friend
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI's Sam Altman have been aggressively promoting the idea that everyone, children included, should form relationships with AI 'friends' or 'companions.' Meanwhile, multinational tech companies are pushing the concept of 'AI agents' designed to assist us in our personal and professional lives, handle routine tasks, and guide decision-making. But the reality is that AI systems are not, and never will be, friends, companions, or agents. They are, and will remain, machines. We should be honest about that and push back against misleading marketing that suggests otherwise. The most deceptive term of all is 'artificial intelligence.' These systems are not truly intelligent, and what we call 'AI' today is simply a set of technical tools designed to mimic certain cognitive functions. They are incapable of true comprehension and are not objective, fair, or neutral. Nor are they becoming any smarter. AI systems rely on data to function, and increasingly that includes data generated by tools such as ChatGPT. The result is a feedback loop that recycles output without producing deeper understanding. More fundamentally, intelligence is not just about solving tasks; it is also about how those tasks are approached and performed. Despite their technical capabilities, AI models remain limited to specific domains, such as processing large datasets, performing logical deductions, and making calculations. When it comes to social intelligence, however, machines can only simulate emotions, interactions, and relationships. A medical robot, for example, could be programmed to cry when a patient cries, yet no one would argue that it feels genuine sadness. The same robot could just as easily be programmed to slap the patient, and it would carry out that command with equal precision — and with the same lack of authenticity and self-awareness. The machine does not 'care'; it simply follows instructions. And no matter how advanced such systems become, that is not going to change. Simply put, machines lack moral agency. Their behavior is governed by patterns and rules created by people, whereas human morality is rooted in autonomy — the capacity to recognize ethical norms and behave accordingly. By contrast, AI systems are designed for functionality and optimization. They may adapt through self-learning, but the rules they generate have no inherent ethical meaning. Consider self-driving cars. To get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, a self-driving vehicle might develop rules to optimize travel time. If running over pedestrians would help achieve that goal, the car might do so, unless instructed not to, because it cannot understand the moral implications of harming people. This is partly because machines are incapable of grasping the principle of generalizability — the idea that an action is ethical only if it can be justified as a universal rule. Moral judgment depends on the ability to provide a plausible rationale that others can reasonably accept. These are what we often refer to as 'good reasons.' Unlike machines, humans are able to engage in generalizable moral reasoning and, therefore, can judge whether their actions are right or wrong. Simply put, machines lack moral agency. Their behavior is governed by patterns and rules created by people, whereas human morality is rooted in autonomy — the capacity to recognize ethical norms and behave accordingly. Peter G. Kirchschlager The term 'data-based systems' is thus more appropriate than 'artificial intelligence,' as it reflects what AI can actually do: generate, collect, process, and evaluate data to make observations and predictions. It also clarifies the strengths and limitations of today's emerging technologies. At their core, these are systems that use highly sophisticated mathematical processes to analyze vast amounts of data — nothing more. Humans may interact with them, but communication is entirely one-way. Data-based systems have no awareness of what they are 'doing' or of anything happening around them. This is not to suggest that DS cannot benefit humanity or the planet. On the contrary, we can and should rely on them in domains where their capabilities exceed our own. But we must also actively manage and mitigate the ethical risks they present. Developing human-rights-based DS and establishing an international data-based systems agency at the UN would be important first steps in that direction. Over the past two decades, Big Tech firms have isolated us and fractured our societies through social media — more accurately described as 'antisocial media,' given its addictive and corrosive nature. Now, those same companies are promoting a radical new vision: replacing human connection with AI 'friends' and 'companions.' At the same time, these companies continue to ignore the so-called 'black box problem': the untraceability, unpredictability, and lack of transparency in the algorithmic processes behind automated evaluations, predictions, and decisions. This opacity, combined with the high likelihood of biased and discriminatory algorithms, inevitably results in biased and discriminatory outcomes. The risks posed by DS are not theoretical. These systems already shape our private and professional lives in increasingly harmful ways, manipulating us economically and politically, yet tech CEOs urge us to let DS tools guide our decisions. To protect our freedom and dignity, as well as the freedom and dignity of future generations, we must not allow machines to masquerade as what they are not: us. • Peter G. Kirchschlager, Professor of Ethics and Director of the Institute of Social Ethics ISE at the University of Lucerne, is a visiting professor at ETH Zurich. ©Project Syndicate
Arab News
a day ago
- Arab News
Saudi Arabia to host Global IoT Congress 2025
Saudi Arabia has emerged as the Middle East and North Africa's largest digital economy, with a market value exceeding SR495 billion ($132 billion) over the past few years. Meanwhile, the Kingdom's Internet of Things market specifically is estimated to grow 12-18 percent year-on-year to reach a market size of SR25.8 billion, reflecting the technologically progressive approach that Saudi Arabia has taken to building the country's future. The Kingdom also ranks first among the top three Arab countries in smart city investments and leads the Arab world in the Government AI Readiness Index as well as the 2024 Government Electronic and Mobile Services Maturity Index. Global investments in IoT are forecast to exceed SR4.5 trillion by 2026, and in the Middle East and North Africa, the IoT market is projected to reach SR90 billion by the same year. Saudi Arabia's IoT market specifically is estimated to grow 12-18 percent year-on-year to reach a market size of SR25.8 billion. As the region's largest IoT market, Riyadh is set to host the Global Internet of Things Congress 2025 on Oct. 21. The three-day event — the largest dedicated IoT event in the Kingdom and the wider MENA region — will put the Saudi capital in the spotlight as a regional powerhouse of emerging IoT technologies. More than 200 prominent exhibitors and speakers ranging from industries like IoT, artificial intelligence, smart cities, energy, healthcare, and other emerging technologies, are expected from all over the world to address over 5,000 high-profile attendees such as industry leaders, C-level businesspeople and governmental stakeholders. The Congress, organized by the Internet of Things Association, is set to host public entities, academic institutions, private companies, investors, entrepreneurs, and media representatives from all over the world. This landmark event will feature keynote sessions, interactive workshops, a technology exhibition, and strategic partnership announcements. Abdullah bin Salem Al-Bedaiwy, chairman of the board at the IoTA, said: 'As a nonprofit organization, the association is committed to development and innovation, encouraging investment, enhancing local content, and increasing localization within the IoT sector. Our initiative aims to launch a global IoT platform in its largest market, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We extend our sincere gratitude to all our partners who contributed to making this vision a reality, and we look forward to the support of both the public and private sectors to ensure the success of this global event on Saudi soil.' He added: 'As a nonprofit organization, the IoTA is committed to fostering innovation and advancing both human and technological capital in the IoT sector. Our vision is to host the region's largest dedicated IoT event in its biggest market, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We extend our sincere gratitude to all our partners who have contributed to making this possible, and we look forward to the support of both the public and the private sector, to ensure the success of this global gathering in Saudi Arabia.' Global Internet of Things Congress 2025 will cultivate cross-border and cross-sector knowledge exchange, drive innovation, and unlock investment opportunities, aligned with the objectives of digital transformation in Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.
