On 2 December 2024, the AI Faith and Civil Society Commission, joined forces with the Artificial Intelligence All-Party Parliamentary Group (AI APPG), which boasts a cross-party membership of 27 Members of Parliament and 20 Peers, to host an event exploring AI’s transformative influence on our spiritual and cultural lives. Co-chaired by Lord Clement-Jones CBE and Alison Gardner MP, the session brought together 5 influential speakers and over 100 engaged participants to tackle one of the most pressing issues of our time: how can we ensure AI enhances, rather than diminishes our spiritual and cultural lives?
Nicole Pearson of the AI, Faith and Civil Society Commission opened the event by highlighting the work of the Commission. She outlined the Commission’s unique mission: to bridge the gap between AI discourse and faith perspectives, weaving together diverse voices to safeguard what it means to be human in the face of rapid technological change.
Steven Croft, The Rt. Rev the Lord Bishop of Oxford, opened the discussion by calling for human engagement and interaction at the heart of policymaking. He also discussed the importance of engaging with the Church as well as other faiths in the development of AI. The Church, he argued, must be listened to in AI conversations since it brings a global international perspective, and particularly a global south perspective, a passionate concern for justice, a concern for human purpose and human flourishing, and an honest appraisal of human weakness and error. He finished by urging governments to draw on faith traditions as reservoirs of ethical wisdom.
Silkie Carlo, Director of Big Brother Watch and a practising Buddhist, focused on the immediate harms AI poses, highlighting how AI is already impacting lives in, for example, the criminal justice system and healthcare. She criticised the gap in current AI regulations, which prioritise hypothetical “frontier risks” over the immediate human rights implications of AI technologies. Carlo raised concerns about AI’s impact on accountability, human rights, war, privacy and surveillance, and the brain and mind, calling for urgent, human-centred legislation to address these pressing concerns.
From the world of film, Roseita Royce, President of the British Film Festival, warned of AI’s growing influence in the media, where data harvesting and the manipulation of human emotion is already prevalent to increase profits. She cautioned that, without effective controls, AI could significantly increase the amount of data collected, thereby exacerbating existing power imbalances and creating significant ethical risks.
Simon Belsham, founder of The Healing Company, shifted the lens to the spiritual crisis of the modern age, exacerbated by the rise of consumerism and capitalism which has left people spiritually malnourished and unhappy. He explained that AI has exacerbated the crisis of meaning, thriving on engagement and comparison over truth and threatening human purpose through its ability to replicate human capabilities. In response to this crisis of meaning, Belsham noted a growing interest in spirituality and a search for deeper purpose in this age of uncertainty. He argued that AI can only be a force for good if it takes seriously the importance of spirituality and if it aligns with humanity's highest ideals. He proposed several recommendations for policymakers, including the creation of a national well-being index, the development of ethical AI regulation through collaboration and investments in community-building initiatives to counteract AI’s divisive tendencies.
Finally, Kate Devlin, Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Society at King’s College London and Patron of Humanists UK, discussed AI’s potential to reshape cultural identities, particularly through its influence on creativity and intellect. From the threat of cultural homogenisation to the impact on job availability, Devlin called for stronger global protections and copyright laws to ensure AI serves humanity’s diverse cultural identities.
The floor then opened up to questions, covering a wide range of topics, including the use of generative AI companions for bereavement support, the development of a code of AI Ethics, the potential for AI Robots to become identical to humans, and much more. The lively dialogue underscored the necessity of cross-disciplinary collaboration to tackle the profound challenges presented by AI.
Speakers were united in calling for comprehensive regulations, greater inclusion of diverse perspectives, and a focus on human flourishing. As the evening concluded, it was clear this was just the beginning of a larger, critical conversation, which the AI Faith and Civil Society Commission is committed to continuing to facilitate moving forwards.