Pope Francis asks Pontifical Academy for Life to study ethics of emerging technologies

The Pontifical Academy for Life is meeting in Rome this week for its 28th General Assembly Feb. 20–22.

In addition to the in-person meeting, the academy is hosting a free online webinar on “Emerging Technologies and the Common Good” with speakers scheduled to discuss technological convergence in nanotechnology, biotechnology, and the cognitive sciences.

“Over these days you will reflect on the relationship between the person, emerging technologies, and the common good: It is a delicate frontier, at which progress, ethics, and society meet, and where faith, in its perennial relevance, can make a valuable contribution,” Pope Francis said.

“In this sense, the Church never ceases to encourage the progress of science and technology at the service of the dignity of the person and integral human development.”

In his speech to the academy, Pope Francis also warned that “technology cannot replace human contact.” He said that it is a “bad temptation” to make “the virtual prevail over the real.”

“It is evident that the technological form of human experience is becoming more pervasive every day: in the distinctions between ‘natural’ and ‘artificial,’ ‘biological’ and ‘technological,’ the criteria with which to discern what is human and of technology become increasingly difficult. Therefore, a serious reflection on the very value of man is important,” he said.