Peace Sunday
The Bishops of England and Wales invite us to mark today, the Second Sunday of Ordinary Time, as a day of prayer for peace, known as Peace Sunday.
The theme for Peace Sunday this year is Pope Francis’ theme for the World Day of Peace, the theme of ‘Artificial Intelligence and Peace’. Whilst this might seem a strangely technical theme, the Church is aware that we do need to think about the consequences of the advances in AI for peace and justice.
Certainly, governments around the world are taking the development of AI seriously. In November 2023, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak invited experts and world leaders to a summit, expressly to look at AI and safety. Prior to the summit, he affirmed that, whilst we should not be alarmist, and whilst there are undoubtedly benefits for humanity in the development of AI, ‘get this wrong’ he said, ‘and AI could make it easier to build chemical or biological weapons’. Further he said, in the most extreme case, there is even a risk that humanity might lose control of AI completely, experts warning earlier in the year that, ‘Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war’. In that light, Pope Francis is raising a highly contemporary theme and one he has spoken on before when he has addressed the risks in the development of technology, not least in Laudato Si’ and Laudato Deum. He has already said it is a theme he will return to on World Communications Day 2024, when he will consider ‘Artificial Intelligence and wisdom of the heart for a fully human communication’.
Pope Francis’ overriding concern is that artificial intelligence should be used in the service of humanity and the protection of our common home and not to further injustice and inequality or to fuel division and violent conflict. The full text of Pope Francis’ message can be read here:
At this time when war in Ukraine, Israel, Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere is constantly in our minds please keep the intentions of peace, the peace that only Christ can give, in your prayers.
