Spain: Social Communications Day, message from Bishops on Artificial Intelligence

The Bishops of the Spanish Episcopal Commission for Social Communications have released a message to mark World Communications Day which will be celebrated on Sunday, 12 May. The text calls for reflection on the great revolution represented by Artificial Intelligence and its impact on the world of communication. Precisely because of its ingredients of speed and efficiency – we read in the message – “Artificial Intelligence is an important tool in communication, which is improving exponentially day by day. It is a good support that will end up being essential inasmuch as it allows professionals to spend more time on the core aspects of their activity: delving deeper into the stories, their causes and their consequences; meeting people; listening to testimonies; travelling to news sites…”. This is why, according to the Spanish Bishops, AI represents a valuable opportunity at the service of communication. At the same time, they highlight the need to keep the human being at the centre of communication: “AI must be freed from biases of ideological, political, and economic efficiency that expel the human being from the centre of the communication activity”. The Episcopal Commission also points out that “every communication is, especially at this historical moment, a key element to the strength of democracies. For this reason, it is necessary to protect the constitutional right to freely communicate or receive truthful information, by any means of dissemination”. On Sunday 12 May, Mgr Ginés Garcia Beltran, Bishop of Getafe, will celebrate a Eucharist to mark the World Day in the Chapel of our Lady of the Angels in Getafe, which will be broadcast live on the Spanish television channel TVE2.
Valentina Bombelli