On 13th February 2025 the AI, Faith and Civil Society Commission held a global virtual event: Ethics in Action: Shaping the AI Landscape through Faith and Civil Society Perspectives. The event brought together faith leaders, ethicists and technology experts from the UK, US, UAE, India, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Pakistan and the Netherlands to explore the untapped potential that faith groups and marginalised civil society organisations can bring to the development of AI and its effects on our lives.
This event took place on the back of the 2025 Paris AI Action Summit, which brought heads of state and key stakeholders from the world of AI to engage in scientific debate, raise public awareness, and share recent innovations in relation to five key themes around AI: Trust in AI, Public Interest in AI, Future of Work, Innovation and Culture and Global AI Governance.
Whilst the Summit’s focus centred on innovation and economic growth, there are unanswered questions around how innovation can progress alongside regulations that safeguard the public, and how growth can meet ethics in sustainable, human-centric ways. Faith communities have long been at the forefront of ethical inquiry and philosophical thought on human dignity, but are often missing from discourse around AI ethics. The AI, Faith and Civil Society Commission wanted to provide a platform for faith communities to discuss the sometimes unexpected, yet vital role they play in conversations about AI.
With an impressive career in frontier technology that has recently seen him become a member of the House of Lords’ Science and Technology Committee, Lord Ranger of Northwood expertly chaired the session, engaging attendees from Christian, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh traditions with three main questions:
- Where are we now? Graham Budd, Director of the Faraday Institute and Commissioner of the AI, Faith and Civil Society Commission, highlighted the shift away from the existential risks presented in the Safety Summit of 2023, towards the present discourse which emphasises AI as a tool for economic growth. This has been seen in the UK’s light touch regulatory approach, and the EU’s evolving stance on strict AI laws. However, Budd emphasised that ‘the much-touted ‘economic growth’ is only going to happen if people grow to trust AI technology and that trust is quite fragile today’.
- Where could we be? Professor Beth Singler, Assistant Professor of Digital Religions explored the growing close relationship between AI and religion: ‘AI is entangled with religion. In producing specific visions of the future, it replicates some of the narratives and images that we’re familiar with from various different religious traditions’. She explained how some are envisioning their spirituality in new ways, exploring the nature and purpose of being human and questioning how to interact with entities that appear omnipotent or superhuman. Singler also touched upon AI’s impact on human thinking, particularly thinking critically.
- How can we get there? His Excellency, Abdulla al-Shehhi, Executive Director of the Abrahamic Family House, Abu Dhabi, outlined that shared ethical foundations mean that faith leaders, communities and other concerned individuals can advocate for results in the collective interest: ‘we at the Abrahamic Family House firmly contend that AI should be used more responsibly. As a collective we can have the greatest impact in actioning desired change’. He explained that when this is coupled with AI literacy, faith voices can provide a holistic perspective on AI’s societal impact and promote its use for the greater good.
Lord Ranger then opened the floor for attendees to contribute to the discussion. Some expressed concern at the trajectory their governments are taking with AI whilst others saw faith communities as a means to build trust in AI, not just for people of faith but for the public in general. Protecting vulnerable people was a priority for many, especially those vulnerable to scams or who are not technologically literate.
Both AI ethics and the impact of AI on spirituality itself were core themes running throughout the discussion. Lawyer and AI, Faith and Civil Society Commissioner, Rabbi Dr Harris Bor connected these dots as the discussion drew to a close saying: ‘we want people to realise the revelatory potential of this technology but also not to come to worship it’.
This fringe event demonstrated how beneficial it would be for faith communities, innovators and politicians to work more closely with one another to create sound, ethical frameworks for new developments. Lord Ranger summarised all that was discussed, explaining that whilst AI brings many challenges, it also has the potential to bear much fruit: ‘I hope we can find the positive balance that this technology will bring for us as humans. There will be risks, there will be challenges; there’s no doubt about that. But if we can balance those out with the benefits and the opportunities then hopefully we all get to a better place together’.