Work and Artificial Intelligence: The Model of Harmonious Innovation

The question is simple, but the answer is not quite so straightforward: What will happen to the world of work when artificial intelligence becomes a permanent feature of production processes? And how will the way we do business change, alongside the nature of work itself? It is around these questions that from 23 to 25 September representatives from the industrial, financial, academic, religious and institutional sectors from Europe, Africa and America will gather in Calabria. The event, under the honorary patronage of the Laudato Sì Centre for Advanced Training, will take place between Simeri Mare and Tiriolo (Catanzaro) and is organised by Entopan, a think tank specialising in development economics and innovation, and by Harmonic Innovation Group. Following the Calabrian leg, the event Harmonic Innovation: Words of Hope for a Magnifica Humanitas will continue on to San Francisco and Castel Gandolfo.

Algorithms are already transforming numerous business processes, and the debate is no longer confined solely to the possibilities offered by these new tools, as the consequences also extend to the organisation of work, skills and the relationship between productivity and employment. That is why the three-day event in Calabria will seek to address these issues by bringing together stakeholders with different interests and perspectives around the same table. Participants include representatives from Anthropic, Microsoft, Qualcomm, IBM, Cisco, NXP Semiconductors and CNH Industrial, as well as representatives from Malaga Tech Park, the IFC – World Bank Group, Intesa Sanpaolo, Banca Etica, Azimut Libera Impresa, INPS, Confindustria, the OECD and the UNDP, the United Nations programme for the sustainable development of AI. Representatives from the Italian government and institutions will also take part in the discussion. Speeches are scheduled from the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, the Minister for Labour Marina Elvira Calderone, the Minister for Universities Anna Maria Bernini, the Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy Adolfo Urso and the Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for innovation Alessio Butti.

Other participants included, amongst others, Paolo Benanti, Roberto Occhiuto, Santo Versace, Angelo Ferraro, Paolo Gentiloni, Francesco Profumo, Tiziano Treu, Renato Brunetta, Enrico Giovannini and Leonardo Becchetti, Cardinals Matteo Maria Zuppi and Fabio Baggio, and Archbishops Flavio Pace and Claudio Maniago.

The presence of representatives from the religious community is linked to the cultural framework chosen by the organisers, who draw on Catholic teaching regarding the relationship between technology, the individual and the common good. The proceedings will also address the relationship between technological development and social responsibility, a theme on which Entopan bases its proposal.

The conference programme will also be accompanied by two musical events. On 23 September, the Stefano Di Battista Quartet will perform ‘Morricone Stories’; on 24 September, Noa will perform a programme dedicated to music and peace. The proceedings will be brought to a close by Francesco Cicione, president of Entopan and founder of the Harmonic Innovation Group, and by Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, the Pope’s Vicar General for the Diocese of Rome.