Vatican gathers world’s big thinkers ahead of first-ever pop concert

By Christopher Lamb, Antonia Mortensen, CNN

Rome (CNN) — The Vatican has brought together an eclectic mix of thinkers and music artists as it seeks to influence both the development of artificial intelligence and the future of humanity.

A summit held Friday and Saturday on “human fraternity” convened Nobel prize winners to discuss everything from agriculture to the economy to sport, before culminating with an historic concert in St. Peter’s Square directed by American singer-songwriter Pharrell Williams and celebrated Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli.

Among those taking part in the AI discussions was Will.i.am, front man for the Black Eyed Peas, who has been involved with AI since 2012, after attending classes by the late Patrick Winston, a computer scientist from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The rapper and singer, who heads a technology company called FYI.AI and supports computer science education in Los Angeles, believes the church and Pope Leo XIV have a role to play in developing AI that serves humanity.

He told CNN that the Vatican event offered a “safe haven” for brainstorming on AI. It “demands that people center themselves around what’s good for humanity,” he said, and “that they build systems that are for community and the improvement of society. That’s the thesis of why they come to the Vatican.”

He added: “I think governments need to get up to speed and put some regulations and governance in place, not to stifle growth but just to ensure that society is safe.”

For several years, the Vatican been pushing for a more ethical AI through meetings with leaders of tech companies, and Pope Francis called in 2023 for a “binding international treaty” to prevent harmful practices and encourage the best ones.

The latest discussions, which took place in Rome’s Palazzo Altieri, covered similar themes, with speakers including Geoffrey Hinton, known as “the Godfather of AI,” physicist and author Max Tegmark of MIT, Jimena Sofía Viveros Álvarez, a scholar and leading voice for ethical AI, and Marco Trombetti, founder and chief executive of Translated, which utilizes AI for translation services.

Trombetti, who uses a mix of AI and human translators, told CNN that the development of AI risks creating a “digital divide” between countries which do and do not have access to the technology. He described the Vatican’s role in discussions as significant because Pope Leo is a “magnet for talent” who has an “incredible power for spreading ideas.”

The latest summit was in the works before Pope Francis died in April, triggering the process to elect his successor. Organizers then scrambled to prepare the event, which included a round table on the news media in which Mark Thompson, the chief executive and chairman of CNN, took part, as did Maria Ressa, a Nobel Peace Prize winner and chief executive of the Rappler news site.

On Saturday, a “human constitutional assembly” was presided over by Graça Machel, widow of South Africa’s late President Nelson Mandela, and attended by several Nobel laureates.

While Italian-centric and dominated by speeches, the event underlined the Vatican and the papacy’s convening power. Ressa, who was awarded the Nobel for efforts to safeguard freedom of expression in the Philippines, told CNN that “if you don’t talk about humanity at the Vatican, I don’t know what else (you would talk about).”

For her part, Machel said the event showed that leaders have the capacity to “re-design the world” to protect life and ensure people have work, food and shelter.

Pope Leo addressed the participants Friday in the Vatican’s apostolic palace, where he urged them to “identify local and international ways of developing new forms of social charity” and to see the “image of God in the face of the poor, the refugee and even the adversary.” Later that evening, he sent a message thanking people on the Italian island of Lampedusa, a frequent entry point for migrants from north Africa, for welcoming new arrivals and hinting that he could make a visit. Back in 2013, Pope Francis made his first visit outside of Rome to Lampedusa.

Speaking about Leo’s election as the first American pope, Will.i.am said it was a “beautiful” thing given “all the things that are happening in America.” On Friday, an undocumented migrant in a suburb of Chicago was fatally shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer after resisting arrest. “I wish we treated Chicago and inner cities better going through tough times with a human, delicate approach,” Will.i.am said. “The fact that we have a pope from Chicago gives me hope.”

The concert in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday evening, open to everyone, is the first of its kind to be held in the Vatican. The line-up includes John Legend, Teddy Swims, Karol G and features an unlikely return to performing by hip-hop duo Clipse, which includes brothers Gene and Terrence Thornton (No Malice and Pusha T). Will.i.am, who is not performing, said he hoped that the crowd might sing one of the Black Eyed Peas’ best known songs – “Where Is The Love?” – because “the world needs it.”

Meanwhile, as the summit was taking place, Pope Leo received the diplomatic credentials of the new US Ambassador to the Holy See, Brian Burch. Burch, who is from Chicago, was the co-founder of Catholic Vote, a political organization that backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. While presenting his credentials, he gave Leo a cake to mark the pope’s 70th birthday this Sunday. According to the US Embassy to Holy See X account, during their meeting pope “underscored that our political differences can never be resolved with violence and told Ambassador Burch that he was praying for the widow of Mr. Kirk and his children.”

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