AI Faith and Civil Society Commission Meeting at Google
26th October 2023
In October 2023, the Commission held its first meeting ahead of the inaugural AI Safety Summit. Hosted by Google, and chaired by the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, it marked the first High-Level meeting for Faith and Civil Society Leaders, discussing the implications of Artificial Intelligence on Global Society.
The meeting brought together 30 leaders from various faiths and sectors from across the UK, Europe, the United States, and the United Arab Emirates, with participants from Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Humanist, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities. Speakers included Graham Budd of the Faraday Institute for the Study of Science and Religion at Cambridge University, international human rights lawyer and Trustee of Humanists UK Susie Alegre, AI entrepreneur Jeremy Peckham, and Shaykh Hamza Yusuf of Zaytuna College in California.
The meeting resulted in an open letter to The Rt Hon Michelle Donlan MP, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, ahead of Bletchley Park, highlighting the pressing need to include faith and civil society perspectives in AI regulation. The points highlighted in the letter included the need to:
- Ensure Accountability
- Enable the Accessibility of Progress
- Establish Ethical Guidelines
- Address Short-Term Harms
- Include Diverse Voices
- Close the AI Literacy Gap
The letter was signed from a number of faith and civil society leaders from organisations such as Theos Think Tank, Policy Connect, the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, the Alan Turing Institute, Barnardo’s and more.
