global issues, European challenge and spiritual questions

“Americans innovate, Chinese copies and Europeans regulate. »Artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception to the rule. As at each recent and magnitude technological revolution (space conquest, internet creation, advent of social networks), the European Union (EU), and in particular France, remain spectators of the frantic race that the United States imposes To their rivals – before Russia, today China.

So, by welcoming the third World Summit of AI, a large diplomatic and scientific congress which takes place Monday, February 10 and Tuesday, February 11, 2025, Paris wishes to reposition itself “as a credible actor on the IA world map by valuing (its) talents and (its) start-ups, ”says Clara Chappaz, the Minister Delegated to AI and Digital.

But with its 20 billion euros in investments per year, including 4 billion in France, the EU is pale in the face of the excessive ambitions displayed by Donald Trump. His project called Stargate, literally “bears stars”, plans $ 500 billion to finance the data centers – these huge warehouses where computers are piled up ensuring their operation – and the power plants necessary for their food.

On many aspects, this record investment recalls the great hours of America, where the opulence of billions of dollars rimed with scientific conquests. We think of course of the Manhattan project, launched to distance Nazi Germany in the race for nuclear weapons, or the Apollo program having sent the man to the moon.

Can Europe catch up in the face of other powers?

For the time being, powerless in the face of this policy of innovation which is based on the size of the checkbook, the old continent can however be delighted with a glow of hope from China. Deepseek, a Chinese company, has just unveiled a new AI, whose model is not only as efficient as those of its American competitors Open AI, Google or Microsoft, but above all much less expensive.

A new model that rebuilds the cards. These tools capable of answering a wide variety of questions, solving mathematical problems or organizing an end trip, could therefore become more affordable to develop. “The United States has not yet won the” supremacy of AI ” supremacy, “said Gary Marcus, American psychologist and neuroscientist. Other countries, including in Europe, could catch up. »»

In his quest for a third way between the Chinese communist dictatorship and American digital imperialism, the EU relies on its values. “Technology is like food, we are what we eat. So it’s up to us to cultivate the one we want to consume on a daily basis, ”says Tariq Krim, a digital specialist entrepreneur.

To prevent risks such as the development of facial recognition systems in public space or mass monitoring, the EU has established the first law in the world on artificial intelligence.

But barely entered into force, these regulations already tense European researchers who accuse him of restraining innovation. “We cannot get by having legislators who do not understand what they are regulating,” deplores Fabrice Epelboin, specialist in social media. Europeans are expected at the turn.

A college student must analyze a poem by Victor Hugo. Instead of resuming his course and dissecting the text, he asks Chatgpt, an artificial intelligence capable of producing written content: “Write me a dissertation on this poem. Less than twenty seconds later, the text is displayed. He just has to return his duty, with the assurance of a good note. What good is it to get tired, since AI does so well?

This shortcut is attracting more and more students and worries teachers. “We often spot the style of Chatgpt”, recognizes Christelle Jouve, professor and trainer at AI in schools. The Internet has offered free access content for a long time, but before, the student had to compare different sources. “There, AI chooses for him and gives a single ready -made answer,” explains Giada Pistilli, a philosopher specializing in Ethics of AI. No effort to reflect, no need to master the subject … From now on, we can obtain a brilliant analysis of Victor Hugo without having read a single line, and lulling the illusion of knowing.

However, obtaining an immediate response does not mean understanding. Reading a summary will never replace reading a book. “The brain is lazy,” explains Christelle Jouve. If it is used to minimal effort, difficult to put it back to work. To the point that some people trust AI more than their own reasoning. »»

AI asks the question of free will

But if AI becomes the only reference, how to exercise our critical mind, bringing new ideas? “AI is a calculator: what it states as true is only most likely statistically. She does not quote her sources, we cannot therefore assess the reliability, ”recalls Giada Pistilli.

Worse still, if only a few technological giants master this artificial intelligence, while the majority passively consume the content, what will they remain of our free will? “AI asks a fundamental question: what will happen to our sense of human if it thinks and acts for us? Asks Christelle Jouve.

Scientists see a formidable tool in AI. She discovers drugs, detects cancers, assists researchers in philosophy. Diabolizing it would be a mistake. But these advances are possible because a competent person drivers and evaluates them. “It takes a collective effort to restore the taste for work,” concludes Christelle Jouve.

AI can help us, but it should never decide for us. Keep your hand on it, without becoming the passive assistant, paradoxically requires an increased effort of thought.

“AI systems must be designed, developed and implemented to serve and protect human beings and the environment in which they live. The declaration, solemn, gave the tone of “the call of Rome”, a text signed in 2020 under the aegis of the Vatican by several public and private institutions, including IBM and Microsoft companies. A call that the pope then supported with all his weight.

Things did not stay there: in 2024, the two great messages of François, that for peace (January 1) and that for World Communication Day (May 12) also had the theme of the paradoxical consequences of the growing use of these technologies. It is indeed a “cognitive-industrial revolution” that takes place before our eyes, according to him. By intervening, on June 14, 2024, at the G7 Forum in Borgo Egnazia (Italy), the Pope again invited decision -makers to urgently put sufficient regulatory policies.

Because if AI can greatly facilitate, for example, access to knowledge, it can also generate new forms of violence, corruption and economic inequalities. This paradox is underlined in a theological “note” published a few days ago by the dicastery for the doctrine of faith and that of culture and education. Titled Antiqua and Nova ( Old and new things ), the text underlines the benefits, but also the potential dangers of an improper use of AI: concentration of powers in the hands of a few companies; disturbance of the border between humanity and machine; exhausting race for productivity to the detriment of workers; interference in medical diagnostics; Development of new autonomous and automated weapons on battlefields, etc. Situations that question the degree of individual and collective responsibility that we are ready to delegate – or not – to artificial intelligence.

But perhaps we only attend here a new episode of recurring tensions between Christian faith and scientific progress? Maxime Derian, expert in the field of digital tools, recalls that in 1948, faced with the power of nuclear weapons and the beginnings of computer science, the fear of the emergence of a “hybrid, mechanical and human leviathan Already expressed under the pen of the Dominican Dominique Dubarle. Which then wondered about the possible emergence of “governance machines” that would compensate for the inadequacies of traditional political systems. Would the sometimes delusional ambition of AI promoters be fulfilled this sinister prophecy?

A spiritual challenge: guide artificial intelligence and algorithms

The social doctrine of the Church underlines the primary function of any tool developed by human intelligence: facilitating openness to the other and living together, as a prerequisite for any spiritual experience. But the powerful algorithms of artificial intelligence seem to overflow this moral framework on all sides: too often, they also promote the dissemination of false news and reduce the critical sense of citizens.

The problem, underlines Arnaud Billion, ethical researcher of AI, is that it is not “a tool that we would have on hand and that one could master”, despite appearances. What the use of AI is aging is an “environment”, in other words, an unprecedented relationship in the world.

No wonder the Pope calls for “guaranteeing and protecting a significant human control space on the process of choosing AI programs. And François to propose the word of “algo-with” to define the new ethical reflection, dedicated to this field, which he calls for his wishes. In order to help everyone situate themselves and decide in conscience.