In 2005, cell phones were banned for the first time during the conclave, the process by which the Catholic Church elects its new pope. Twenty years later, after the death of Pope Francis, the election process is underway again. Authorities have two priorities: to protect the integrity of those attending the meeting, and to ensure that it proceeds in strict secrecy (under penalty of excommunication and imprisonment) until the final decision is made. By 2025, the Gendarmerie corps guarding Vatican City faces unprecedented technological challenges compared to other conclaves. Among them are artificial intelligence systems, drones, military satellites, microscopic microphones, a misinformation epidemic, and a world permanently connected and informed through social media.

Pope Francis met with top comedians at the Vatican on Friday to encourage them to "spread peace" in the midst of "gloomy" news. A delegation representing the Holy See urged the United Nations this week to put a moratorium on autonomous weapons designed to kill without human decision-making. Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, the Holy See's Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva, gave the warning Monday during an expert session on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS). "For the Holy See, autonomous weapons systems cannot be considered as morally responsible entities," Balestrero explained. "The human person, endowed with reason, possesses a unique capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making that cannot be replicated by any set of algorithms, no matter how complex." POPE FRANCIS SAYS INTENTIONALLY ALLOWING MIGRANTS TO DIE IS A'GRAVE SIN' The Vatican City flag flies outside the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

Vatican City-Pope Francis debated the potential threats artificial intelligence poses to humanity with the head of Microsoft on Wednesday, ahead of a robotics summit at the Vatican, it said. "In the wrong hands, every instrument can become a weapon if the organisational power of humanity cannot keep up with the technology itself," Microsoft head Brad Smith said in an interview ahead of the papal meeting. With Francis he discussed "artificial intelligence at the service of the common good and activities aimed at bridging the digital divide that still persists at the global level," the Vatican said. The pontiff had urged world leaders gathered in Davos last year to ensure that AI "contribute(s) to the service of humanity and to the protection of our common home, rather than to the contrary". Smith told the Vatican's L'Osservatore Romano newspaper that "in order to ensure people have confidence in technology, we must think beyond the technology itself".

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Microsoft President Brad Smith met Pope Francis on Wednesday to discuss the ethical use of artificial intelligence and ways to bridge the digital divide between rich and poor nations, the Vatican said. The head of the global tech giant and the 81-year-old Roman Catholic leader, who once said he is a "disaster" when it comes to technology, spoke for about 30 minutes in the pontiff's residence. The pair discussed "artificial intelligence at the service of the common good and activities aimed at bridging the digital divide that still persists at the global level", according to a statement. Smith, 60, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview that "strong ethical and new, evolved laws" were needed so that technological advances such as artificial intelligence do not fall into the wrong hands. The Vatican said its Academy for Life would jointly sponsor a prize with Microsoft for the best doctoral dissertation in 2019 on the theme of "artificial intelligence at the service of human life".

Vatican City, Dec 4, 2016 / 03:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- This week the Vatican hosted a high-level discussion in the world of science, gathering experts to discuss the progress, benefits and limits of advances in artificial intelligence. A new conference at the Vatican drew experts in various fields of science and technology for a two-day dialogue on the "Power and Limits of Artificial Intelligence," hosted by the Pontifical Academy for Sciences. Among the scheduled speakers were several prestigious scientists, including Stephen Hawkins, a prominent British professor at the University of Cambridge and a self-proclaimed atheist, as well as a number of major tech heads such as Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind, and Yann LeCun of Facebook. The event, which ran from Nov. 30-Dec.

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg revealed he is dedicating his year to making a home AI butler. Now, he has revealed the project is already coming to fruition - and promised to reveal it next month. While at a Facebook'town hall' event in Rome, he told an audience'I'm making progress - I hope to have a demo next month.' Pope Francis meets Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, second from left, and his wife Priscilla Chan, at the Santa Marta residence, the guest house in Vatican City. However, Zuckerberg later revealed his wife doesn't have access to his home AI system.

Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg revealed he is dedicating his year to making a home AI butler. Now, he has revealed the project is already coming to fruition - and promised to reveal it next month. While at a Facebook'town hall' event in Rome, he told an audience'I'm making progress - I hope to have a demo next month.' Pope Francis meets Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, second from left, and his wife Priscilla Chan, at the Santa Marta residence, the guest house in Vatican City. However, Zuckerberg later revealed his wife doesn't have access to his home AI system.