The Rome Call for AI Ethics is a joint commitment to a human-centered development of artificial intelligence. Initiated by the Pontifical Academy for Life, the text was first signed at the Vatican on 28 February 2020 — by the Academy itself, a UN specialized agency (FAO), the Italian government, and two leading international technology companies. Since then the circle of signatories has grown steadily; in 2023 high-ranking representatives of all three Abrahamic religions joined the Call.
The Six Principles
The Call sets out six principles that every development and every deployment of AI systems must observe:
- Transparency. AI systems must in principle be explainable.
- Inclusion. The needs of all human beings must be taken into account — no one may be structurally excluded.
- Responsibility. Those who design and deploy AI systems must act responsibly and be transparently held to account for doing so.
- Impartiality. AI may not act or operate with bias; its design must counteract discrimination.
- Reliability. AI systems must be able to operate reliably.
- Security and Privacy. The systems must be secure and must respect the privacy of users.
Connection to Personal Ontology
The six principles are formulated functionally — they prescribe certain properties for AI systems. The personal-ontological core lies behind these properties: the point is that AI must not instrumentalize, must not discriminate against, must not obscure the person. The Personalist Norm — that the person may never become a mere means — is present in the Rome Call not conceptually but in substance. The document thus forms a bridge between philosophical-theological anthropology and technical practice.
Especially noteworthy is the underlying conviction that ethical scrutiny must not set in only after technical development, but must shape the development itself — a demand discussed in algorithm ethics under the heading of ethics by design.
The Further Development: Abrahamic Rome Call (2023)
In January 2023 an expanded version was signed in Rome that includes the three Abrahamic religions: alongside the Catholic Church (represented by the Pontifical Academy for Life), high-ranking representatives of Judaism and Islam contributed. With this, the Call acquires an ecumenical-interreligious sponsorship that extends the underlying anthropological intuition — the inviolable dignity of every person — beyond intra-Catholic teaching.
The Limits of the Document
The Rome Call is a self-commitment, not a law. It generates obligations only for the signatories, and only to the degree that they implement it internally. Its effect lies on the symbolic and normative level: it signals that a broad coalition of religion, international politics, and the technology industry recognizes personal dignity as a standard. Legal bindingness must be established through other instruments — in particular the EU AI Act and international agreements such as the UN GGE LAWS.
Ontological Classification
Document type: Self-commitment / interreligious declaration
Sponsorship: Pontifical Academy for Life, UN specialized agency FAO, Italian government, international technology companies, and from 2023 additionally Judaism and Islam
Chapter assignment: Chapter 5: Oblivion of the Person
Sources: Generated by querying the Personhood ontology.
Further sources:
- Pontifical Academy for Life (2020): Rome Call for AI Ethics. Vatican City, 28 February 2020.
- Pontifical Academy for Life (2023): Rome Call for AI Ethics — Abrahamic Addendum. Rome, January 2023.
- Pontifical Academy for Life (ongoing): Documentation of signatories, www.romecall.org.
- Pope Francis (2024): Address at G7 Summit, Borgo Egnazia, 14 June 2024.