…Nigeria’s ComWEEK Activities Kick off May 5 – 12
Following Pope Francis’ released message for the 2024 World Day of Social Communications, which focused on the theme: ”Artificial Intelligence and the Wisdom of the Heart: Towards a Fully Human Communication”, Nigeria’s National Directorate of Social Communications, Abuja, has rolled out a one-week programme of events running from 5 May to 12 May 2024 to enable greater participation in all Catholic parishes and institutions in Nigeria.
It is an effort geared towards helping the faithful to fully digest and assimilate the import of the Pope’s message on the use and place of Artificial Intelligence (AI) regarding human communication, missionary evangelization and authentic living among other social and cultural values, reports Rev. Fr. Robert Anagboso.
The programme which features different topics for each day is expected to be discussed among the faithful in all parishes and institutions at suitable times and venues. Here, in Awka Diocese, the programme will run on multifaceted platforms and fora.
Although each parish priest will be armed with hard copy programme manual for use in his parish, Fides Media will invite experts on the different topics and live-stream their presentations each day via Fides Facebook pages: (Fides Television & Fides Media) and Fides Website: (www.Fidesmedia.org).
In his message for the 58th World Day of Social Communications, Pope Francis urged humanity to cultivate wisdom of the heart in the age of artificial intelligence. The theme is also closely linked to the Pope’s message for the World Day of Peace which was devoted to the development of systems of artificial intelligence.
According to the Pope, AI is ‘radically affecting the world of information and communication, and through it, certain foundations of life in society,’ adding that such changes affected everyone.
‘How can we remain fully human and guide this cultural transformation to serve a good purpose?’ asked the Roman Pontiff.
In answering this question, the Holy Father noted that ‘at this time in History, which risks becoming rich in technology and poor in humanity, our reflections must begin with the human heart.’
Pope Francis reminded all that in the Bible, the heart is seen as the place of freedom and decision-making, symbolising integrity and unity, while also engaging our emotions, desires, and dreams. He added that the heart is, above all, the inward place of our encounter with God.
‘The wisdom of the heart, then, is the virtue that enables us to integrate the whole and its parts, our decisions and their consequences, our nobility and our vulnerability, our past and our future, our individuality and our membership within a larger community,’ said the Pope.
The Holy Father stressed that such wisdom could not be sought from machines. He noted that although the term, artificial intelligence, had replaced the term, machine learning, the very use of the word, intelligence, could prove misleading.
The Pope explained that it was not enough to be able to store data, like machines do, but that such data must be made sense of, and that human beings alone were capable of that.
‘Depending on the inclination of the heart, everything within our reach becomes either an opportunity or a threat,’ warned the Pope, who noted that the technology of simulation behind AI algorithms, could be useful in certain specific fields.
However, he added that the use of AI would become perverse, when it distorted our relationship with others and with reality. He said it was extremely important to know that in the wrong hands, such tools could lead to disturbing scenarios.
‘Artificial Intelligence must be regulated, acknowledging that, as in every human context, regulation is, of itself, not sufficient,’ he noted; even as he invited everyone to grow together in humanity and as humanity.
‘We are all challenged to make a qualitative leap in order to become a complex, multi-ethnic, pluralistic, multi-religious, and multi-cultural society,’ he said.
Speaking of information, the Holy Father warned that information could not be separated from living relationships and explained that relationships involved the body and an immersion into the real world, but that they also involved human experiences, such as compassion and sharing.
With this in mind, Pope Francis referred to the many reporters who had been injured or killed in the line of duty as they attempted to show the world what they themselves had seen.
‘For only by such direct contact with the suffering of children, women, and men, can we come to appreciate the absurdity of war,’ said the Pope.
Bringing his message for World Communications Day to a close, Pope Francis recalled that it was up to the faithful to decide whether to become fodder for algorithms or to nourish their hearts with that freedom without which they could not grow in wisdom.
‘Only together,’ he concluded, ‘can we increase our capacity for discernment and vigilance and for seeing things in the light of their fulfilment.
Pope Francis then prayed that humanity may never lose its bearings, and that the wisdom that was present before all modern technology may return to the world. Wisdom, said the Pope, could help humanity to put systems of artificial intelligence at the service of a fully human communication.
(Additional news from vaticannews.va)
