President Joe Biden took part in an extended, private meeting with Pope Francis in Bari, Italy on Friday.
The meeting itself took place just hours after the pope became the first pontiff to address a full gathering of the collected G7 leaders.
Biden gave a thumbs up and said “it went well” when asked how his meeting with Francis went.
The White House did not allow reporters into the closed door meeting, but administration officials told the traveling press pool they planned to release a readout of the meeting in due time. Some media reports indicated that three of Biden’s grandchildren, all children of his son Hunter Biden, also took part in the meeting.
The pope’s remarks included a stark warning to the G7 leaders about potential dangers involving artificial intelligence. The pope specifically challenged the collected governments to ensure humans make decisions concerning weapons of mass destruction, not machines.
“We would condemn humanity to a future without hope if we took away people’s ability to make decisions about themselves and their lives by dooming them to depend on the choices of machines,” he said. “We need to ensure and safeguard a space for proper human control over the choices made by artificial intelligence programs: Human dignity itself depends on it.”
The G7’s closing statement appeared to take heed of that warning.
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“We will pursue an inclusive, human-centered, digital transformation that underpins economic growth and sustainable development, maximizes benefits, and manages risks in line with our shared democratic values and respect for human rights,” the statement reads.
Biden also held separate bilateral meetings this week with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan of the United Arab Emirates.
