2022 has been another strong year of growth and accomplishment for AI and Faith, with lots to celebrate and look forward to as we head into 2023.
Major Milestones for 2022 include:
- Continuing to add specialized areas of expertise and diversity within our expert community with 49 more technology and business professionals, scientists, theologians and faith leaders as Research Fellows, Contributing Fellows/Members and Advisors. This brings our total expert community to 121, in 11 countries and on four continents.
- Accepting the invitation last May of the Partnership on AI in San Francisco to join their class of five new Partner organizations, bringing their total to 105 global partners, of which we are the first pluralist, overtly faith-oriented partner.
- A new management structure in July of Teams for Research, Editorial, Programs, Media/Tech, and Networking to carry forward our daily work.
- Greatly expanding our online presence and readership with regular weekly posts by our Editorial Team about the interface of AI with faith values and the work of our experts, collected into our end-of-month digital Newsletters.
- Creating key tech ethics panels and programs in Geneva, Switzerland; Washington DC, and Denver including at the Third Annual National Faith Employee Resource Group Conference in Washington, DC and the American Association of Religion’s AI Research Seminar.
- Promoting and encouraging conference presentations and writing by our experts in a wide range of venues.
- Updating our website with a new look and showcase of all our experts (launching by year end).
We are very grateful to the many volunteer AI&F leaders and participants who have produced these great outcomes. Special thanks to each of our Team Leads who stepped up to more broadly and sustainably manage our work: Mark Graves and Dan Rasmus (Research Fellows); Emily Wenger (Senior Editor); Thomas Arnold (Programs); Thomas Osborn (Media/Tech); and Nicoleta Acatrinei and Cyrus Olsen (Networking). Special thanks also to our outstanding communications strategist, Laura Blank of Keylight Communications in Greenville, South Carolina, who went above and beyond her contract in helping us design our web refresh and expand our social media presence.
Key Goals for 2023 include
- Developing strong internal relationships and cross-leveraging expertise and diverse perspectives across our Research Fellows, Contributing Fellows, and Advisors.
- Expanding our broader pluralist community of formal and informal faith-oriented Partner organizations in the global AI ethics conversation, including US and emerging global tech Employee Resource Groups.
- Making the most of the opportunities posed for AI&F and our partners by AI&F’s membership in the Partnership on AI, and the participation of our experts in major AI ethics conferences.
- Hiring a program coordinator and interns to support the extraordinary work of our volunteers.
Save the date! The first ever AI&F town hall will be held on Thursday, January 12th at 8am PST/11am EST, with AI&F advisor Cathie Wood of Ark Invest as the keynote speaker. Details and a formal invitation for AI&F members and affiliates will follow soon.
Please make an end of the year fully-tax-deductible gift to AI&F by donating online here. And to learn more about our mission of equipping and encouraging people of faith to bring time-tested, faith-based values and wisdom to the ethical AI conversation, please subscribe to our Newsletter and follow our Linked In and Twitter pages. If you are interested in actively participating as an expert or volunteer, please contact people@aiandfaith.org. Thanks so much for helping sustain our unique community and mission in 2022.
