G7 Summit Preview: Look For Pope Francis, AI and More

World leaders will soon meet to discuss artificial intelligence and other issues at the G7 summit. With the potential to wreak a huge disruption to society, AI is a concern shared by Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, the Italian leader Giorgia Meloni, and Pope Francis. They will meet in the southern Italian resort of Apulia, on June 13-15.

In the view of the Italian Prime Minister Ms Meloni, sophisticated artificial intelligence could wipe out "the middle classes, the backbone of our societies." It could take over work that has previously been the preserve of trained, professional people.  

Ms Meloni is currently the president of the G7. It is a role that rotates annually between the political leaders of member states. She has invited Pope Francis to be a keynote speaker at the conference's session on AI. Its goal is to decide how best to create "a regulatory, ethical, and cultural framework" for artificial intelligence.

The Politics of AI

Regulation of AI is of great importance to Japan, a country that has long been a technological pioneer. The government has been working closely with the Japan Newspaper Publishers and Editors' Association to stop malevolent actors using bots to flood the internet with fake news. 

Prime Minister Kishida is not opposed to AI, provided its power is harnessed for good. He believes that the technology could be extremely beneficial in addressing global issues, such as climate change or pandemics. But he also takes the view that the international community needs to cooperate in facing the negative aspects of AI. Those include media manipulation and human rights issues.

"Generative AI has the potential to be a vital tool to further enrich the world," Mr Kishida said in a recent speech to the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. But he added, "We must also confront the dark side of AI, such as the risk of disinformation."

Following the Prime Minister's meeting with United States President Joe Biden in April, the two leaders issued a joint statement. In it, they affirmed: "We are committed to strengthening our shared role as global leaders in the development and protection of next-generation critical and emerging technologies, such as AI." 

During its stewardship of the G7 in 2023, Japan initiated a system that has become known as the Hiroshima AI process. It aims to establish guiding principles and a code of conduct for AI developers. Forty-nine countries and regions have endorsed this framework.

Talking With the Pope

The Pope's full agenda during the G7 summit has not been made public yet. Apart from addressing the AI panel, he may choose to meet with the visiting leaders. This could include a one-to-one discussion with President Biden, a Roman Catholic.

An encounter between the Pontiff and Mr Kishida would allow them to build upon the goodwill established when the Pope visited Japan in 2019.

During a trip to Hiroshima, the Pope urged the abolition of nuclear weapons. He decried them as an "unspeakable horror" and insisted they were not the answer for global peace.

Mr Kishida, who is from Hiroshima, was also invited to an audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2022. In their meeting, they spoke again of their fervent wish to free the world of nuclear weapons.

Unfortunately, there has been almost no progress on nuclear non-proliferation since then. Russia has consistently hinted it may use nuclear missiles if the war in Ukraine escalates. And North Korea has started openly collaborating with Russia on advanced missile technology.

The Pope will have taken stock of these developments and noted their dire implications. However, the Holy Father believes that patience is a precious virtue. 

"Let us be honest," Pope Francis admitted recently, "we are often lacking in patience. It is difficult to stay calm," he said, but added that patience is not only a necessity, but a calling.

Zelenkyy's Patient Example

One prominent example of a world leader who has displayed great patience under duress is Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

He will be a key participant at the G7 summit in Italy. He was also a VIP guest at the G7 summit in Japan in 2023. At that time he vowed to rebuild destroyed cities in his country in the same way that Hiroshima was reconstructed following the atomic bombing during World War II.

In Italy, Joe Biden and President Zelenskyy are expected to sign a bilateral security deal cementing long-term defense ties between their countries. Leaders of Germany, France, and the UK will also attend the event. All of them have backed Ukraine's plan to strike targets inside Russia when it is attacked from the Russian side.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict will be discussed further at a separate meeting of international leaders in Switzerland on June 15 and 16. Prime Minister Kishida will take part in that event, along with President Joe Biden. China has said it will not be sending a representative.

Cornerstone: The Economy

The topic of China will be lower on the agenda of the G7 meeting in Italy in 2024 than when Japan hosted the gathering in Hiroshima in 2023. Instead, the Italian hosts have another important issue they wish to discuss. That is how to curb the flow of migrants from Africa to Europe.

Prime Minister Meloni hopes to find ways to make the African situation more stable. That would reduce people's desire to make the perilous sea crossing to countries such as Greece and Italy.

Preceding the forthcoming leaders' conference in Apulia, G7 finance ministers met in the Italian lakeside town of Stresa. At that time, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen raised another topic of concern among G7 countries. That is the Chinese overproduction of key green technologies, such as electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. 

This is another topic to look for at the G7 leaders' meeting. The Stresa forum was attended by Japanese government ministers and the Bank of Japan's Governor, Kazuo Ueda.

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Author: Duncan Bartlett, Diplomatic Correspondent
Mr Bartlett is the Diplomatic Correspondent for JAPAN Forward and a Research Associate at the SOAS China Institute. Read his other articles and essays.