Rome Call for Artificial Intelligence ethics draws global interest
AI Joint endeavour of Vatican, FAO, IBM and Microsoft ranked among global top 5 events in the field
22 April 2021, Rome - Artificial intelligence (AI) is a booming field drawing in large investments and already leading to major breakthroughs in the fields of drug discovery, chemical and molecular synthesis, computer vision systems and language models. It promises to catalyze revolutions in agri-food systems as well, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is already deploying it and looking at its longer-term ramifications.
As FAO Director-General QU Dongyu has said, AI can have a tremendous positive impact, making agriculture more productive and sustainable , but care is required to prevent it from introducing unwelcome new economic, social and ethical challenges and risks.
CNA Staff, Apr 20, 2021 / 20:41 pm (CNA).
The Connecticut House of Representatives has advanced a bill to end the religious exemption from childhood vaccine requirements, beginning in 2022.
The bill to end the religious exemption for childhood vaccines advanced by a bipartisan vote of 90-53. It has the support of Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont but still needs to pass the state Senate.
Connecticut’s Catholic bishops took no position on a similar bill in 2020, but stressed the importance of vaccines, the need for sound public health policy, and the need to scrutinize any attempt to remove religious exemptions.
About 7,600 K-12 students now have religious exemptions from the state’s vaccination requirements. The bill was amended to ensure it would not apply to any of the several thousand K-12 students with a current religious exemption. Some critics have questioned what would happen to the 683 children in pre-K and daycare who currently have exemptions.
A nurse prepares a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Fasano, Italy, April 13, 2021.
CNS photo/Alessandro Garofalo, Reuters
A nurse prepares a dose of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in Fasano, Italy, April 13, 2021.
WASHINGTON (CNS) The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities has launched a campaign urging Catholics to write letters to pharmaceutical companies urging them to stop the use of abortion-derived cell lines in the development and testing of vaccines.
Among the companies singled out are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson for their COVID-19 vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline for its Shingrix shingle vaccine, and Merck for its MMR, Chickenpox, and Hepatitis-A vaccines.
President Joe Biden participates virtually in the CEO Summit on Semiconductor and Supply Chain Resilience in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Monday, April 12, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
At first glance, a White House proposal aimed at improving infrastructure and creating jobs might not seem like a natural topic of discussion for Catholic leaders. But the American Jobs Plan, a set of proposals that includes spending about $2.3 trillion to improve traditional infrastructure, plus expand access to broadband internet, install lead-free water pipes and bolster homecare nursing, has some Catholic theologians and activists hoping pressing societal issues might soon be addressed.
Big pharmas urged to stop using abortion-derived cell lines
Vials of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine and a medical syringe are seen in this 2020 photo illustration. (CNS photo/Dado Ruvic, Reuters)
By Julie Asher • Catholic News Service • Posted April 14, 2021
WASHINGTON (CNS) The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities has launched a campaign urging Catholics to write letters to pharmaceutical companies urging them to stop the use of abortion-derived cell lines in the development and testing of vaccines.
Among the companies singled out are Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson for their COVID-19 vaccines, GlaxoSmithKline for its Shingrix shingle vaccine, and Merck for its MMR, Chickenpox, and Hepatitis-A vaccines.