The coordinator of the Committee for the Italian strategy on AI speaks at the conference on the technologies of the future

The many faces of artificial intelligence were discussed: ethics, work, training, the business world and more on the table

"Orienting technology towards activities that man cannot do, rather than in the direction of what he is already capable of". This is the horizon outlined by Gianluigi Greco, professor at the University of Calabria, during the conference "Innovate responsibly - dialogues on artificial intelligence and ethics", held yesterday at the University of the Republic of San Marino.

Starting from his role as coordinator of the Committee for the update of the national strategy on AI indicated by the Italian Council of Ministers, the academic confirmed the need for a multidisciplinary approach that does not only involve technicians, but also figures such as "economists and philosophers", speaking of a field in which "opportunities and risks" coexist. In this sense, according to Greco "today we focus too much on ChatGPT and similar" realities, while "this technology has already achieved what it could do".

Among the examples proposed to outline possibilities and limits, a photograph taken in a restaurant: the most advanced systems are able to recognize "who is there, but not what is happening. There is no database that can help the machine to understand what actions are taking place and it is almost impossible for them to reach this level".

The use of artificial intelligence is encouraged on the front of innovation in sectors such as the medical one, especially in analyses where man with his senses and abilities cannot reach, as well as in drugs. While the position expressed by Greco on the use in Public Administrations and small and medium-sized enterprises is lukewarm, for which developing systems based on artificial intelligence remains "not convenient", with large investments and limited benefits.

Francesco Sacco, professor at the University of Insubria and the SDA Bocconi School of Management, inserted his speech in this context, underlining that of the ten million paying users of ChatGPT, which presents itself as a chatbot capable of generating texts of any complexity and topic, "the companies are very few. Its success - he underlined - was made by people, who purchased it and use it while working to obtain fast and effective answers, not in their free time". These are the so-called "consumers, not the business world".

During the conference, held in the university headquarters of the Ancient Monastery of Santa Chiara, space was also given to professions with the president of TIM San Marino, Nicola Barone, who offered a series of forecasts and scenarios which include the automation, driven by new technologies, of "work activities that today absorb 60-70% of employees' time". In parallel, the speech of the chief

Enterprise and Innovative Solutions Officer of TIM, Elio Schiavo: "Through innovation we give back time to companies and Public Administrations, useful for developing new activities. To change the system today we need technology, time and tenacity. We strongly believe in our mission, which is to accelerate the digitalization process and address the digital divide by putting all the technology and resources we have at the service of the country".

Hence a perspective that has expanded to the world of education: Giovanna Cosenza, director of the degree course in Communication and Digital Media at the University of San Marino, underlined the growing attention given in the world of work to "soft skills, which include the ability to make decisions, solve problems, think creatively, build interpersonal relationships, feel empathy, contain stress and so on". The suggested path is that of "interdisciplinary integration, because computer science alone will not go anywhere". Scientific study paths "will have to include in-depth studies to develop students' soft skills" taking them from the humanities sector, which for its part will have to "start a massive injection of digital skills" in its courses.

Frequent and in-depth, during a meeting also attended by the Captains Regent of San Marino, Francesca Civerchia and Dalibor Riccardi, the reflections that placed man at the center in his relationship with technology. In this direction the intervention of the bishop of the diocese of San Marino - Montefeltro, Domenico Benvenuti: "Artificial intelligence fishes data that we provide. In the process of implementing the process that concerns these tools - he asked himself - where has man gone? Do we also reduce him to a data? In this way - he warned - we kill him. While we are well beyond".

His speech followed the words of the Rector of the University of San Marino, Corrado Petrocelli, who was quick to underline the complexities faced by those who are called to bring order to a context in which "the humanization of technology and the mechanization of man" coexist. In the choices, he pointed out, there should also be room for "anthropological and ethical dimensions. When risks are feared, we insist on the fact that we must train the machine to respect certain values, and the algorithms to be fair and just. But how to do it is still being discussed".

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Titan, Luca Beccari, took up the question by placing it in the context of internal and international decisions: "The topic of artificial intelligence is one of the five macro challenges recognized globally", he recalled. "No country in the world can think of addressing it with a national approach, through laws and ethical protocols" limited to its own territory. "We need collegiality of management, a global policy".

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