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Join us for the second in PSR’s 2024 Earl Lecture series Disruptive AI, Christian Nationalism, and Democracy. This lecture, AI and Religion as Technologies of Communal Meaning Making will be led by PSR Dean, Susan Abraham, with a response by John Robichaux, Executive Director for U.C. Berkeley’s Coleman Fung Institute for Engineering Leadership.
Religion is understood in a wide variety of ways. Each definition has implications for how individuals, both those who ascribe to religious traditions and those who do not, live their personal lives and relate to others. In one sense, religion can be understood as technology that has long been used to help people and communities interpret and make sense of the world.
Similarly, emergent technologies like AI also shape the way we engage and understand the world. In fact, some are beginning to be described with terms familiar to religion like omniscience (all knowing) and omnipresence (everywhere present). As humans are seeking to make sense of a period of great disruption and anxiety, Christian nationalism and other forms of religious extremism are rising, often aided by misinformation and other misuses of technology.
Religion, which can be a great force for social cohesion and help human beings mediate questions of ultimate value (Who am I? What is Good? What is Justice?) can also turn evil. Technology that can leverage convenience can also be weaponized in powerful ways. How can we draw on the wisdom of traditions to create framework and efforts to increase the benefits and minimize the dangers?
Learn more about the full 2024 lecture series here.
1 Hour of CEU credit available for those who participate in all four sessions. If you’re interested in receiving credits, please reach out to the Office of Development at development@psr.edu for more information.