SACRU is an international network of eight Catholic universities: Australian Catholic University, Boston College, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro, Sophia University, Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Universidad Católica del Sacro Cuore, Universitat Ramon Llull. The main activities relate to research, internationalization and university education, and focus on issues with an impact on society and academic reputation.
Knowing that the excess of polarization in all areas also affects the discussion on the risks and opportunities that may arise from the irruption of the artificial intelligence. With the consequent difficulty of avoiding a Manichean approach, avoiding both enthusiastic adhesions and unfounded preconceptions, whether from the ultra-technophiles who praise emerging technologies or from the technophobic pessimists who demonize them.
To guide the IA The foundation is to be found in the principles of the Social Doctrine of the Church: the dignity of the person, justice, subsidiarity and solidarity.
The addressees are society as a whole, organizations, governments, institutions, international technology companies and universities: all are needed to share a sense of responsibility that guarantees all of humanity a future in which digital innovation and technological progress put human beings at the center.
"This is a strategic event," Pier Sandro Cocconcelli, pro-rector vicar of the Catholic University and secretary general of SACRU, explained to Vatican News. "An appointment that will bring together in the cloisters of the Catholic University prestigious experts from various disciplines from around the world to discuss what is undoubtedly one of the most relevant topics in the current academic debate and in society as a whole, with the aim of producing a shared document that examines the prospects and defines the implications of artificial intelligence for university education and research."
On Thursday, July 13, Professor Franco Anelli, Rector of the Catholic University and Vice President of SACRU, will inaugurate the event. This will be followed by a keynote address by Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, Prefect of the Holy See's Dicastery for Culture and Education, and an introduction by Professor Zlatko Skrbis, President of SACRU.
The plenary session will feature Marcelo Gattass, Vice Rector for Innovation at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Andrea Vicini, Director of the Department of Theology at Boston College, Alvaro Soto, Professor of Computer Science at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile in Santiago, William Hasselberger, Professor at the Institute of Political Studies at the Portuguese Catholic University in Lisbon and Xavier Vilasis, Professor of Engineering at the Universitat Ramon Llull in Barcelona.
The plenary sessions will be chaired by Antonella Sciarrone Alibrandi, Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Culture and Education of the Holy See, and Marco Carlo Passarotti, Professor of Computational Linguistics at the Catholic University, will be the speaker.
On Friday, July 14, Andrea Gaggioli, Professor of Psychology at Catholic University, Samuel Baron, Professor of Philosophy at the Catholic University of Australia, and Tad Gonsalves, Professor of Computer Science at Sophia University in Tokyo, will speak.
The scientific colloquium is organized in plenary sessions with eight keynote speakers, one from each partner university. Also on the agenda are two parallel sessions, one on education and research and the other focusing on the broader social role of universities.
In the first, the moderator will be Giovanni Marseguerra, professor of Political Economy and prorector of Coordination of the Educational Offering of the Catholic University, and the speaker will be Mikki Schindler, social psychologist of the Universitat Ramon Llull.
In the second session, the moderator will be Marília dos Santos Lopes, professor of Human Sciences at the Portuguese Catholic University, rapporteur Federico Manzi, researcher in Developmental Psychology and Education at the Catholic University.
At the end of the initiative, which will be attended by the rectors of the eight universities, a draft document will be prepared for the publication of a position paper outlining SACRU's vision on the impact of artificial intelligence and the role of universities, especially Catholic universities. The event will be held in person and remotely via the SACRU website.
