As leaders from the Group of 7 nations gather this week in southern Italy, they will be joined by representatives from countries at the center of international conflict, from developing nations like Brazil and India, and, for the first time, from the Holy See.
Pope Francis, the Vatican announced, will take part in a discussion on Friday on the ethical implications of artificial intelligence at a session that is open to envoys from countries that are not G7 members. The Vatican said Pope Francis would also have bilateral conversations with some of the visiting leaders, including President Biden and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, who invited him, said the pope’s presence would “make a decisive contribution to defining a regulatory, ethical and cultural framework” for A.I., adding that his participation “brings prestige to our nation and to the entire Group of 7.”
Francis’s participation in the summit comes as the 87-year-old pope was reported this week to have used again an offensive slur to refer to homosexuality, the same pejorative he was accused of using last month. The reports last month prompted a backlash among L.G.B.T.Q. people, toward which the pope had generally adopted a more welcoming approach.
The pope’s G7 presence breaks with a long tradition in the Roman Catholic Church of refusing such invitations on the basis that a pontiff does not need state leaders or anyone else to offer him a platform to speak, said Alberto Melloni, an Italian church historian.
“The pope already has the floor,” Mr. Melloni said.
But in this case, Pope Francis, who has a record of breaking with conventional behavior, might see the summit as a high-profile opportunity to send another loud message on ending conflicts such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, Mr. Melloni said.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, told Avvenire, an Italian Catholic daily, that Francis was ready to use “all the means and spaces” available to make the case for peace.
Francis’ invitation to the summit, he added, was also a recognition of the profound ethical implications of the technology he will officially be there to discuss.
The pope has already been caught in the currents of A.I. Doctored photographs of Francis wearing a giant white padded jacket, riding a motorcycle and drinking a beer at a music festival have caused widespread glee on social media. But Francis and the Vatican have also highlighted more serious implications of artificial intelligence, including in education, communication, working life, and corporate and government decision-making.
In 2020, the Pontifical Academy for Life, a research institute whose members are selected by the pope, issued a document, the “Rome Call for A.I. Ethics,” that laid out principles for the development and use of the technology. Top players in the field of A.I., including leaders at Microsoft, I.B.M. and Cisco, have signed the document.
Francis himself addressed the subject in a message on New Year’s Day, calling for a global treaty to ensure that A.I. systems preserved space for human mercy, compassion and forgiveness, rather than be plunged in a reality operated by inscrutable algorithms. He said it was vital to understand what effect these technologies will have on individual lives and on societies, on international stability and on peace.
The Rev. Paolo Benanti, who serves as an A.I. ethicist to both the Vatican and the Italian government, said that the pope’s attendance at the G7 meeting emphasized his willingness to engage with pivotal global issues.
“The pope shows that he has these antennae,” Father Benanti told reporters this past week, citing Francis’ other major concerns, such as migration and climate change, adding, “He perceives where the world goes.”
In the seaside town of Savelletri, where the G7 summit is taking place in a luxury tourist resort, residents had high hopes for the pope’s visit. Although tight security protocols mean that locals are unlikely to see Francis in person, many were keeping their fingers crossed for some payoff, however small.
“At least a blessing,” said one 68-year-old resident, Laura Mancini. “He must give that to us.”
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