Mass. contingent heading to Vatican to discuss the potential and perils of AI

Artificial intelligence is such a hot topic, even the pope can’t seem to stop talking about it.

After Pope Francis put out a call to be thoughtful about AI’s deployment, a delegation of Massachusetts public officials will be answering it. A local contingent assembled by UMass Boston chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco heads to the Vatican next week for an AI conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

The participants include two secretaries in Governor Maura Healey’s cabinet, Yvonne Hao (economic development) and Jason Snyder (technology services), as well as former congressman Joe Kennedy III (now president at Citizens Energy), UMass Boston public policy professor Michael Ahn, and retired Supreme Judicial Court justice David Lowy (now general counsel for the UMass system).

The pope regularly speaks about ensuring that humanity and ethics get prioritized amid an onslaught of AI. Among other high-profile statements on the topic, he delivered a cautionary written address in January to the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos about the topic. He has since been stricken with serious pneumonia, but Suárez-Orozco said it was important to the pope that the conference go on even if he is not well enough to participate.

The conference dovetails with the launch of a local “AI Hub” under the quasi-public Massachusetts Technology Collaborative, with $100 million allocated in an economic development bond bill passed by lawmakers in November, to foster startups and research in the sector with an emphasis on applied AI — how artificial intelligence can be deployed to help with businesses across the economy.

Hao said she will talk about the newly established hub during her presentation, entitled “AI and the Future of Work.”

“What the pope is trying to do here is so consistent with what we’re trying to do,” Hao said. “Our goal is to apply AI to big problems, to use it for good, and to make sure that all of humanity benefits. … What we’re trying to do here in our state is use this technology to actually help us be more human.”

Snyder said he’ll address the potential for AI to improve access to health care, education and, other government services. He expects to discuss a contest his office recently held challenging state agencies to develop new services with AI. The winning entry involved a program that helps parents shop for day care options in their community. Snyder said he’s participated in other AI conferences, but the global nature of this one and its focus on ethics differentiates it.

UMass Boston has already put a stake in the ground with respect to applied AI, launching what it calls the first “university-based institute” dedicated to optimizing AI tools across a broad range of professions, made possible with a $5 million donation two years ago from entrepreneur and alum Paul English.

Suárez-Orozco got involved because he’s a council member with the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, a Vatican-affiliated organization that regularly organizes conferences and workshops around specific themes. Given the pope’s regular focus on AI and its potential impact — he has even warned of the catastrophic consequences should autonomous machines gain control of weaponry — it’s natural that the academy would tackle the topic.

“He said, ‘Look this is a product of human intelligence, the product of human creativity, there’s enormous potentiality for good,’” Suárez-Orozco said. “But there’s also the potential for a dark side.”

Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.

Originally Appeared Here