Religion and innovation. Redefining the human as a challenge to the agency of religious actors

The seminar aims at contributing to the conversation on Artificial Persons from the perspective of religious actors. I will look closer into the predominant normative approach to AI by religious actors, according to which AI represents an ethical and legal challenge. I will underline the defensive and negative character of such an approach, through which religious actors see AI (and the digital transformation as a whole) as a product coming from outside their sphere, and as a fundamental threat to the understanding of the human and the harmony of social life. Against this background, I will rather look at AI as an opportunity for agency for religious actors. An agency-based approach entrusts religious actors with the responsibility to be offensive and positive (as opposed to defensive and negative) and strengthens their claim for a seat at the table of global AI governance.

Bio

Marco Ventura is a professor of law and religion, religious diplomacy, and religion and communication at the University of Siena. He is also a Director of the Center for Religious Studies at Fondazione Bruno Kessler of Trento (https://isr.fbk.eu/en/), an associate researcher at the Center Droit, Religion, Entreprise et Societé of University of Strasbourg and at the French National Research Council. He has published extensively on freedom of religion or belief, law, society and religion, comparative religious laws, and politics of religion. His latest books are From Your Gods to Our Gods. A History of Religion in British, Indian and South African Courts (Cascade Books, 2014) and Nelle mani di Dio. La super-religione del mondo che verrà (Il Molino, 2021)

Registration

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About the ASG

The objective of the Advanced Study Group is to create a setting within which researchers from a wide range of disciplines can develop their knowledge of artificial personhood, and explore the implications of the interaction between corporations, AIs and human beings through the lens of personhood.

Read more about the ASG on their webpage