This two-day conference, held on the 16th and 17th of November 2026, will be a further exploration of the questions of ethics and faith building on the University of Bath ART-AI research centre’s highly successful workshops co-organised by Dr Charles Larkin and the Revd Dr Malcolm Brown at Lambeth Palace Library (June 2024) and Lambeth Palace (January 2026), focusing on theological insights into questions arising in AI ethics.
Following the strong interest and engagement from participants at the 2024 and 2026 workshops, the organisers were encouraged by the openness of AI practitioners, theologians and practitioners to theological perspectives, recognising that the ethical implications of their work benefit from serious engagement with pre-modern traditions of thought. The goal of the events was to take a deeper dive, bringing together those of different faiths or no faith and AI practitioners to examine the question of how does one go from moral leadership to action in the AI space.
The objective of this conference is to contribute to developing a human-centric approach to AI through behaviours, codes of practice and implementable policy frameworks, based on insights from faith traditions.
Day 1: On the first day, we will engage in a series of presentations related to Magnifica Humanitas, the May 2026 encyclical by Pope Leo XIV on safeguarding the human person in the age of artificial intelligence. A series of speakers from theological, philosophical, technological, legal and policymaking communities will discuss the theoretical and practical implications of Magnifica Humanitas for their respective domains.
Day 2: In January 2026, our workshop expanded to perspectives from Judaism and Islam alongside those of the Christian churches. The second day will be a continuation of this work by including other faith traditions and workshopping a policy brief. The powerful faith-based statement on the future of the human person and artificial intelligence presented in Magnifica Humanitas provides an important watershed and focal point for these different traditions to dialogue.
Conference Deliverable:
‘What is needed from faith communities to create technologically literate citizens with agency?’ The second day will workshop a policy brief (with recommendations for delivery) in alignment with the G20 Interfaith20 2026 recommendations and the UK’s Roadmap for Modern Digital Government.
Register Here
Registration deadline: Friday 30th October 2026, 12 noon.
Programme
- 09:30 Arrivals
- 10:00 Opening & Deliverables – Charles Larkin
- 10:40 The Wonder of Machine Learning – Rachel Free
- 11:15 Finding Our Voices: Using the Full Range of Christian Scripture to Respond to Technology (a response to Magnifica Humanitas) – Steven Croft
- 11:15 – 11:30 Coffee Break
- 11:30 AI, Poetry & Prayer: George Herbert and T.S. Eliot – John Cornwell
- 12:10 Relational AI after Magnifica Humanitas – Andrew McStay
- 12:40 Harris Bor (Title TBC)
- 13:10 – 14:00 Lunch
- 14:00 An Islamic Theological Reflection on Chapter Three of Magnifica Humanitas – Ramon Harvey
- 14:40 AI, Ethics and Faith after Magnifica Humanitas – Samuel Tranter
- 15:10 Magnifica Humanitas and Quran 5:48: Safeguarding the Infrastructure of Fraternity from Algorithmic Flattening – Aisha Y. Musa (online)
- 16:00 Understanding the Machine, Safeguarding the Person: Magnifica Humanitas and AI – Joseph Laracy (online)
- 16:50 Wrap-up
- 17:00 Close
Day 2
- 09:30 Arrivals
- 10:00 Husna Siddiqi (Title TBC)
- 10:40 From Minds to Hearts: An Islamic Theology of AI, Human Agency and Moral Responsibility – Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour
- 11:15 The Silent Erosion of Human Agency and Institutions Due to the Extensive Use of AI – Vladimir Sucha
- 11:15 – 11:30 Coffee Break
- 11:30 Workshop Facilitation – Malcolm Brown
- 12:10 Workshop Session
- 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch
- 14:00 Workshop Session
- 14:40 Workshop Session
- 15:10 Workshop Session
- 15:45 Closing Remarks – Charles Larkin and Malcolm Brown
- 16:00 Departures
Speakers
Mohammed Gamal Abdelnour – Imam of Bath Mosque and Research Fellow at the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies, Oxford.
Vladimir Sucha – Senior Adviser at the European University Institute (EUI), former Director-General of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, specialising in science, policy and technological governance.
Ramon Harvey – Senior Lecturer in Islamic Studies at Cambridge Muslim College and currently Academic Lead within the Faculty.
Steven Croft – Bishop of Oxford Emeritus, Church of England, theologian and author.
Aisha Y. Musa – Scholar of Islamic Studies, author of Hadith as Scripture, contributing online from Harvard.
Joseph Laracy – Assistant Professor at Seton Hall University, theologian and ethicist specialising in Catholic social thought and technology. Contributing online.
Dr Rachel Free – European and UK Patent Attorney, Representative before the Unified Patent Court (UPC), Partner at CMS CMNO, and member of the University of Bath’s Ethical AI Advisory Board.
John Cornwell – Writer, historian and Fellow Commoner of Jesus College, Cambridge; noted author on religion, ethics and science.
Husna Siddiqi – Executive Director and Head of Tech Assurance Management at KPMG; Chair of the Ethical AI Independent Advisory Board at the University of Bath; Co-Founder of Cryptogals.
Andrew McStay – Professor of Digital Life and Director of the Emotional AI Lab at Bangor University; leading researcher on AI ethics, emotion recognition and responsible innovation.
Samuel Tranter – Scholar of theology and ethics at the University of Oxford, specialising in Christian responses to emerging technologies and AI.
Harris Bor – Barrister at Twenty Essex and practising Rabbi, specialising in commercial law, ethics and faith perspectives on contemporary issues.
John Lennox – Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford, Christian apologist, author and speaker on science, faith and artificial intelligence.
