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Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will the resolution of the debate about ethical principles of AI and governance. But a fascinating conference in humid Rome organized by Wilson Sonsini and Libra Legal Partners brought together a unique group of tech companies, governance advisors and practitioners as well as senior officials from the Vatican to debate and discuss the role of governance in the AI revolution.
The group included business and legal leaders from the likes of IBM, Vanguard, Meta, Google, Cohere, Open AI, Anthropic, Palantir, academics from Stanford Law, University of Perugia, non-executive directors and board chairs, and others in the ecosystem. The keynote was a provocative speech by former Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr.
Is there a new model that is needed, or is it about boards and investors adapting their existing governance and regulatory models for this new technology? Is there a need for new regulation or do regulators and policymakers have the tools they need? Or will regulation kill the golden goose? How do boards stay abreast and current so they can discharge their duties appropriately? What do large institutional investors expect from boards? Do boards need AI ethicists?
“Boards have oversight to ensure that management is using AI with an ethical framework,” said Penny Herscher, chair of the Board of Lumentum and experienced corporate board member. If companies don’t invest heavily in AI, she added, “they will be vulnerable…It needs to be embedded in everything you do.”
Former Chief Justice Strine’s paper argues that the AI industry needs to take responsibility for the externalities it creates as and that it needs to own the risks and potential risks that it generates (his papers are always worth a read). He calls out four ethical mirror tests for AI companies (full paper here) and believes in the end there needs to be “sensible, binding, legal regulation.”
Today, attendees gathered for the second day of the conference in the Regal Room just outside the Sistine Chapel. Pope Leo XIV welcomed the group this morning in a statement and said, “there is an urgent need for serious reflection and ongoing discussion around the ethical elements of AI.”
Kudos to David Berger and Pierluigi Matera for bringing this diverse group together.
Have a great weekend,
GPP Team
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