Paolo Benanti
Pope's Advisor on AI
The Titanic is sinking. An AI is tasked with its evacuation.
Would it work with empathy, understand why to evacuate women and children first?
Or would algorithms triumph? And what if those algorithms aren't aligned with basic human values?
Religion: AI’s conscience-keeper
Meet the priest asking these questions. And offering a fresh perspective on how to code conduct – and conscience – into machines.
Father Paolo Benanti is a Fransiscan friar and theologian. A tech ethicist who has contributed to Italy’s national AI strategy and blockchain initiatives. The Vatican’s go-to AI guy. A global crusader championing common understanding from the UN to the G7. (He's also a football junkie and supporter of his local AS Roma football club.)
His mission? To align human values and artificial intelligence – because, as he quips, “Algorithms are fast, but they are not wise.” To form a public square that brings together people and organisations from varied disciplines and domains to guard against the perils of AI – joblessness, societal decline, exploitation. A world coded with algorithms but devoid of empathy, mercy, dignity.
And he’s using religion as guiding light, as a reservoir of ethical insight. “Religions have long grappled with power, responsibility, and the value of life,” he explains. For him, theology and tech ethics aren’t at odds – they are allies in a deeper quest to protect what it means to be human. Christianity offers lessons in kindness and forgiveness; Islam, service and virtue; Judaism, justice and dignity.
His toolkit? The Pope Francis-led 2020 Rome Call for AI Ethics, a set of principles to ensure the focus is not on the tech, but on making it work for the good of humanity. The Vatican, Microsoft, and IBM were among its first signatories. Four years later, 11 world religions, 13 nations, and over 150 organisations had endorsed the Rome Call for AI Ethics.
At SYNAPSE 2025, Paolo Benanti will share why “the pope is not an engineer, but he is concerned”. Whether we can teach AI to be more human – emote and empathise, relate and reflect. His call for “algor-ethics”. Why he’s batting for religion to pave the way. And whether AI will sow chaos or lead to salvation.
