Friar Paolo Benanti wears the plain brown robes of his medieval Franciscan order as he pursues one of the most pressing issues in contemporary times: how to govern artificial intelligence (AI) so that it enriches – and doesn’t exploit – people’s lives. Benanti is the Vatican’s go-to person on the technology and he has the ear of Pope Francis as well as some of Silicon Valley’s top engineers and executives. With a background in engineering, a doctorate in moral theology, and a passion for what he calls the “ethics of technology,” the 50-year-old Italian priest is on an urgent mission that he s…
