Archbishop Balestrero urges AI governance to end global hunger

Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, Permanent Observer of the Holy See at the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, stated that artificial intelligence may help end world hunger but must keep human dignity and integral development at the center. He made the remark during a conference on the impact of artificial intelligence in agro-food systems held in Geneva on Monday, October 5. The archbishop thanked the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization for this timely event, co-organized by the Holy See, which forms part of the noble mandate to eradicate hunger, highlighted also in October by Pope Leo XIV during a visit to the Roman headquarters of the FAO. He recalled that the 673 million people who go to sleep without food worldwide are not mere statistics, but numbers behind which there is a destroyed life, a vulnerable community; there are mothers who cannot feed their children.

A powerful tool In this scenario, according to the Permanent Observer of the Holy See, digital technologies, including AI, can constitute a powerful tool, insofar as they can help small farmers access agronomic knowledge and markets, as well as receive effective alerts. Citing the encyclical Magnifica humanitas, on the other hand, Archbishop Balestrero emphasizes that the development of AI in agro-food systems must place the dignity of every person, conferred by God, and have as its essential goal integral human development. In this sense, the international community has the responsibility to regulate AI ethically, while facing the great challenge of eradicating hunger in the world. Technology at the service of the person The choice is ours and must not be delegated to machines, affirms the bishop: hunger will not be won only by intelligence, whether human or artificial, but by action and determination with conscious, responsible, and ultimately human technology.