On November 12, the Holy See’s Secretary of State addressed the 41st General Conference of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Cardinal Parolin’s address had four sections: restarting from an inclusive and quality education, education for integral ecology, ethics of artificial intelligence and open science, and the cultural heritage of faith.

“For the Holy See, ‘the principle that not everything that is technically possible or viable is thereby ethically acceptable remains ever valid,’” he said, quoting Pope Francis. “In order to be able to speak correctly of an ethics of artificial intelligence, it will therefore be necessary that the development of every algorithm always draws on an ethical vision, ‘algor-ethics.’”

“The Church does not expect science merely to follow ethical principles,” Cardinal Parolin added. “She expects a positive contribution, which we can describe, as did St. Paul VI, as the ‘charity of knowledge.’”