Just as faith is about more than information, we call our global experts and partners network a “community” because we seek to build connections that are about more than sharing ideas. Virtual communication has enabled our growth, but when we are able to gather in person, we see how faith beliefs can empower shoulder-to-shoulder work and lasting friendships.
We saw that again early in September when about thirty of our experts and friends gathered at the home of Thomas Osborn and Mollie Fadule near Microsoft’s main campus to dine and hear from several of our experts in the midst of important transitions. Among other AI&F experts and advisors, our new executive director Greg Cootsona was also in attendance.
Fr Paolo Benanti, returning this summer as a scholar in residence at Seattle University, shared about the increasing importance of building strong connections as the pace and power of AI development grows ever faster and greater. A top AI advisor to the late Pope Francis, Fr. Paolo continues to teach at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He has travelled widely to support the Rome Call for AI Ethics and more recent, deepening statements of Catholic theological and societal engagement with AI. Fr Paolo discussed how Pope Leo’s ascension to the Papacy is creating extraordinary interest and expectations around the Vatican’s engagement with AI ethics. The ways in which the Vatican will engage await Pope Leo’s fresh outlook and guidance.
Our Advisor Ben Olsen shared some of the initial work on a new initiative within Microsoft called Technology for Religious Empowerment or “T4RE”. Launched by Ben and our Advisor Glen Weyl, with broad support across a variety of company leaders, T4RE is a cross-company effort to partner with major religious organizations and associated NGOs to set the bar for what religious communities want from the technology of today and envision what flourishing could look like with the technologies of tomorrow. The initiative will research internal and external faith and technology factors to guide Microsoft’s work with science and understanding.
Several important outcomes from this initiative are already in the works. They include a four week hackathon that Microsoft is hosting in which software developers volunteer their knowledge to develop applications on ideas proposed from faith organizations, including a proposal from AI&F. Second, Microsoft Research intern Nina Lutz has completed a comprehensive research study on the perception of AI by religious leaders, and she appeared in a recent AI&F podcast summarizing this work. Finally, a new coalition called the Faith, Family, and Technology Network is entering its third month of weekly updates across a big tent of participating organizations that span faith traditions and the political spectrum.
It is easy to see how attendees at our dinner left with a new sense of what is possible when powerful leaders like these at the Vatican and Microsoft engage dynamically around what faithful people want for human flourishing.
Views and opinions expressed by authors and editors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the view of AI and Faith or any of its leadership.
