Cisco Systems, a global leader in digital communications technology, has now joined Microsoft and IBM in signing the Pontifical Academy for Life’s Rome Call for AI Ethics, committing to an ethical approach to artificial intelligence.
May 03, 2024
VATICAN: Cisco Systems, a global leader in digital communications technology, has now joined Microsoft and IBM in signing the Pontifical Academy for Life’s Rome Call for AI Ethics, committing to an ethical approach to artificial intelligence.
Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins met with Pope Francis privately April 24, prior to signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics. The Rome Call aims for shared responsibility among various sectors to ensure digital and technological advancements, particularly AI, respect human dignity and benefit all.
“We are very pleased that Cisco has joined the Rome Call because it is a company that plays a crucial role as a technology partner for the adoption and implementation of artificial intelligence by offering expertise in infrastructure, security and protection of AI data and systems. From now on, we will look at how this can further grow to combine the already present corporate commitment with the ethical principles of the Rome Call,” said Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontifical Academy for Life and its RenAIssance Foundation.
“Today we know that AI is no longer a topic just for experts, and reflecting on the ethics of its development is more urgent than ever. This new signing of the Rome Call demonstrates this,” he said during an event where the CEO of Cisco System Inc. signed the Rome Call document already endorsed by entities such as Microsoft, IBM, FAO, universities, private corporations and NGOs.
Robbins acknowledged AI’s potential and challenges, emphasising the company’s role in building networks and infrastructure critical to the AI revolution. He affirmed that the principles of the Rome Call align with Cisco’s belief in technology based on trust to foster an inclusive future. “AI is fundamentally changing our world – presenting vast opportunities, but also new challenges. For nearly 40 years Cisco has built the networks that connect people and organisations across the globe, and today we are building the critical infrastructure and security solutions that will power the AI revolution,” said Robbins. “The Rome Call principles align with Cisco’s core belief that technology must be built on a foundation of trust at the highest levels in order to power an inclusive future for all,” he said.
Fr Paolo Benanti from the Pontifical Gregorian University who is also Scientific Director of the RenAIssance Foundation and member of the United Nations Advisory Body on Artificial Intelligence, underscored the importance of developing robust, unbiased AI data sets, enhancing AI skills, creating governance frameworks, and ensuring AI systems are transparent, accountable, and uphold human values.
“One of the key elements in addressing the transformations of AI is the enabling of its capabilities, which are rapidly advancing and transforming many sectors. Enabling AI capabilities in an ethical manner requires action in multiple directions: developing large, high-quality, unbiased data sets to train AI models; providing access to cyber infrastructure; building AI competencies; establishing governance frameworks to manage AI development; and providing AI systems that are transparent, accountable, and aligned with human values. Today, Cisco’s signature of the Rome Call for AI Ethics is a step forward in this process,” Fr Benanti said. — La Croix International
