Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Higher Education

CEU UCH endorses the Rome Call for AI Ethics

• This initiative from the Holy See brings together international organizations, institutions and governments in an effort to create a future in which humanity is placed at the heart of digital innovation and technological progress.

The CEU Cardenal Herrera University has endorsed the Rome Call for AI Ethics, led by the Holy See's Pontifical Academy for Life. In this way, the University wishes to ensure that “artificial intelligence is developed for the common good of all”.

The Rome Call for AI Ethics was inspired by Pope Francis's warning about the misuse of technology and artificial intelligence, and his call for these tools to be used in such a way that protects the human family and promotes the common good.

Thus, in 2020, the Rome Call was born to promote a sense of shared responsibility among international organizations, institutions, governments and the private sector in an effort to create a future in which humanity is placed at the heart of digital innovation and technological progress.

6 principles for an ethical approach to artificial intelligence:

1. Transparency: AI systems must be explainable.
2. Inclusion: the needs of all human beings must be taken into consideration so that everyone can benefit.
3. Responsibility: those who design and deploy the use of AI must proceed with responsibility and transparency.
4. Impartiality: AI creators must not act according to bias, thus safeguarding fairness and human dignity.
5. Reliability: AI systems must be able to work reliably.
6. Security and privacy: AI systems must work securely and respect the privacy of their users.

Artificial Intelligence, Ethics and Higher Education

There's a lot of excitement about artificial intelligence (AI) but also some doubts about it too. In this context, the CEU Cardenal Herrera University has set up a range of focus groups to reflect on the different challenges that AI poses, from ethical, economic, legal, health, philosophical and theological points of view. The members of these focus groups are drawn from the university community and the professional world, and they will explore these issues and the possible responses to them that the University could make, on the basis of ethical values, a commitment to human dignity and the common good.

“Academics at our universities are paying close attention to the development of artificial intelligence and its impact on higher education. Since the end of the last academic year, we have implemented a wide range of initiatives aimed at raising awareness and improving skills across the university community, and also to encourage the use of AI in our programmes, not only as a teaching tool but also as something for the students to study too,” said Juan Manuel Corpa, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs and Digitalization at CEU UCH. “It is of great importance for us that this technology should develop and evolve in an ethical way and we also want to promote its ethical use by students. That is why our university endorses the Rome Call for AI Ethics, following our sister universities in Madrid (Universidad CEU San Pablo) and Barcelona (Universidad Abat Oliba CEU).”