COMECE on new technologies: “need to intensify the public debate for a human-centric approach”
The Assembly of the COMECE Working Group on Ethics gathered in Brussels on Monday 7 October 2019 to discuss on national and EU developments in the field of ethics, and took stock of the recently published COMECE reflections on “Robotization of Life” and “Uncrewed Armed Systems”.
In the context of the legal and ethical EU
framework for Artificial Intelligence (AI) indicated by Ursula von der Leyen, President-Elect of
the European Commission, as one of the priorities of the incoming EU
Commission, experts delegated by EU Bishops’ Conferences highlighted the need
to intensify the public debate for a human-centric approach in this new type of
technologies.
Participants also exchanged on financial
ethics, and on the legal, security and ethical challenges posed by
sophisticated military technologies, as pointed out in the recent COMECE
contribution on Uncrewed Armed Systems.
In this regard, the experts of the
Working Group shared the call for starting international negotiations on a
legally binding instrument prohibiting lethal autonomous weapon systems.
In dialogue with MEP Peter Liese, member
of the EU Parliament
Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, the Assembly also highlighted the important
contribution of Churches to the ongoing discussion on sustainability and
ecological transition.