The Rome Call for AI Ethics: Should CIOs heed it?

As enterprises increasingly look to artificial intelligence (AI) to support, speed up, or even supplant human decision-making, calls have rung out for AI's use and development to be subject to a higher power: our collective sense of right and wrong. One such entity weighing in on the need for AI ethics is the Vatican, which exactly three years ago, on Feb. 28, 2020, brought together representatives from Microsoft and IBM to first sign the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a commitment to develop AI that serves humanity as a whole. This ethical commitment, which brings together high-tech and religious leadership, as well as universities and government entities, was renewed in January 2023, with representatives of the Muslim and Jewish faiths joining alongside the Vatican. In many ways, the Rome Call is symbolic, enforcing principles that many IT vendors and enterprises are already undertaking around AI's use and development. But it also raises the profile of an emerging issue that has real impact on people around the globe -- something CIOs must consider in their approaches to AI.