All posts tagged: AI Ethics

Silicon Valley turns to Rome as Pope Leo XIV prepares AI encyclical

Silicon Valley turns to Rome as Pope Leo XIV prepares AI encyclical

Published by Sam Flores

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — On Monday (May 25), Pope Leo XIV will release his first major papal document, an encyclical titled “Magnifica Humanitas” or “Magnificent Humanity,” expected to update Catholic social teaching for the age of artificial intelligence. Leo signed the document May 15, on the 135th anniversary of “Rerum Novarum,” the landmark 1891 encyclical by his namesake, Pope Leo XIII, that laid the foundations for modern Catholic social thought by defending workers and unions amid the upheaval of the Industrial Revolution. The parallel is deliberate. Since his election a little over a year ago, Leo has repeatedly described AI as a new industrial revolution, one whose consequences reach far beyond technology into war, labor, education, communication, truth, community and the environment. “The challenge we currently face is not technological, but anthropological, and it is my hope that the Encyclical Letter to be published within a few days will contribute to answering this challenge,” Leo wrote in a post on X on Friday (May 22). As evidenced by the unbridled promotion and implementation of technology …

How AI chatbots keep you coming back for more

How AI chatbots keep you coming back for more

Published by Jenni Sidey

The appeal is almost too clean. Ask for a lover, a therapist, a fictional world, or an answer to an endless chain of questions, and the machine responds right away. It is shaped to your preferences and available at any hour. That ease sits at the center of new research on what its authors call AI chatbot addiction. The problem, they argue, is serious enough to deserve closer public attention. Presented at the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, the study draws on 334 Reddit posts from people who described themselves as addicted to AI chatbots or worried they were headed there. The researchers, from the University of British Columbia, found repeated signs that chatbot use was interfering with sleep, work, school, relationships, and emotional stability. “AI chatbots like ChatGPT or Claude are now part of daily life for millions of people, helping us with everyday tasks,” said first author Karen Shen, a doctoral student in the UBC Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “But with their benefits come risks. Our paper …

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It

Published by Sam Flores

Don’t worry, ChatGPT told us to just trust the robots… In a shockingly short period of time, AI has gone from tech novelty to a part of our everyday lives. More industries are incorporating AI into daily workflow so that employees have more time for creative work – at least in theory. Roxy’s and Katelyn’s respective professions (journalism and book publishing) are still figuring out the ethical boundaries around AI. Meanwhile, we’ve all seen the dark side of these tools: deep fakes, chatbots encouraging users to harm themselves, and platforms overrun with AI slop. Do these tools portend a bright new age or civilizational collapse? We hash it out, with minimal help from the robots and a lot more help from a leader of a D.C. think tank helping to create policies that keep these powerful tools in their place. GUEST: Meredith Potter is executive director of the American Security Fund and the American Security Foundation, the latter of which works to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) is understandable, controllable, responsible, ethical, and human-centered. She is …

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It

It’s an AI World, and We’re All Just Living In It + Meredith Potter

Published by Sam Flores

Don’t worry, ChatGPT told us to just trust the robots… In a shockingly short period of time, AI has gone from tech novelty to a part of our everyday lives. More industries are incorporating AI into daily workflow so that employees have more time for creative work – at least in theory. Roxy’s and Katelyn’s respective professions (journalism and book publishing) are still figuring out the ethical boundaries around AI. Meanwhile, we’ve all seen the dark side of these tools: deep fakes, chatbots encouraging users to harm themselves, and platforms overrun with AI slop. Do these tools portend a bright new age or civilizational collapse? We hash it out, with minimal help from the robots and a lot more help from a leader of a D.C. think tank helping to create policies that keep these powerful tools in their place. GUEST: Meredith Potter is executive director of the American Security Fund and the American Security Foundation, the latter of which works to ensure artificial intelligence (AI) is understandable, controllable, responsible, ethical, and human-centered. She is …