The development of ethics applied to artificial intelligence and the epistemological implications of full-fledged AI were the subject of Special Envoy Rodríguez’s address to H.Em. Cardinal Turkson, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy, and H.M. Queen Silvia of Sweden, President of the World Childhood Foundation.

At the request of Professor Joachim von Braun, president of the Pontifical Academy, which boasts 12 Nobel Prize winners among its 40 members, the high-level expert seminar was held in the Casina di Pio IV, in the Vatican Gardens. H.R.H. Princess Madeleine of Sweden was also present during the whole meeting.

Scientists, regulators, operators, experts, and activists participated in this two-day, closed-door event, opened by H.Em. Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State to the Holy See. Wishes and prayers were requested for the fully recover of H.H. Pope Francis.

The meeting paid special attention to the impact of AI on young people, who are exposed at this historic moment through usage time and data management via the multiple devices they use daily for hours. This generates confusions between the real and the unreal, problems of addiction, loss of consciousness and disturbances of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders.

The main outcome of the seminar, in which Special Envoy Rodríguez was invited also as an expert at geopolitical and ethical level, was a joint declaration defining the responsibilities of each of the parties involved.

https://www.pas.va/en/events/2025/ai_children.html