Eastern religions join call for ethical AI

HIROSHIMA

Sect leaders from major Eastern religions Wednesday signed on to a Vatican-led code for AI ethics that also includes major tech companies at a ceremony in the Japanese city of Hiroshima.

The "Rome Call for AI Ethics" says artificial intelligence should be developed "with ethical principles to ensure it serves the good of humanity," given concerns over the impact on warfare, elections and employment.

More than a dozen leaders from various religions with roots in Asia, including Buddhist, Sikh and Shinto groups, gathered at the Peace Park in Hiroshima, which was decimated by a U.S. nuclear bomb attack in 1945.

Tech firms such as IBM, Microsoft and Cisco, as well as religious leaders from Christianity, Islam and Judaism, have already joined the pledge launched in 2020.

Signatories agree that AI systems "must not discriminate against anyone" and "there must always be someone who takes responsibility for what a machine does."

The systems should be reliable, secure, straightforward to understand, and "must not follow or create biases."

Concluding a two-day forum on the topic, the president of World Fellowship of Buddhists, Shinto sect leaders and the secretary general of the Baha'i International Community among others signed the call.

AI "should never, ever exploit or destroy God's creation, it should only seek its betterment and flourishing", Bhai Sahib Bhai Mohinder Singh, chair of the Sikh organization Guru Nanak Nishkam Sewak Jatha said.