“Seeking Alignment: Religious Imaginaries in the Past and Future of AI”
In April, five remarkable scholars from the study of religion, law, media theory, and computer science gathered to discuss how and why “religion” is crucial to understanding both the past and the future of AI. Co-sponsored by the Department for the Study of Religion (DSR), the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society, and the Data Sciences Institute, with a special welcome from Interim Dean Stephen Wright, the at-capacity event was a highlight of the DSR 50th Anniversary celebrations.
The panel posed questions about the concept of “aligning” AI with human values, as a utopian and dystopian project. Panelists explored the religious underpinnings and gendered elements of tech culture and “cybernetics,” as well as questions of inequities in labour practices connected to “training” AI and issues of legal regulation of AI. A lively Q&A session followed.
The Panelists
Suzanne van Geuns, a DSR PhD alum, who is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and will become Assistant Professor of Religion and Technology there in September 2026. Her book, Seductive Methods: Sexual Success in the Computational Imagination, is under contract with U Chicago Press.
John Modern is Arthur and Katherine Shadek Professor of the Humanities at Franklin & Marshall College. Most recently, John is the author of Neuromatic: Or, A Particular History of Religion and the Brain, U Chicago Press. He is currently PI for "The Religion of AI Observed: Investigations in Different Media," supported by the John Templeton Foundation. Also see his “Me & My Monkey Mixtape”, available at his “Institute for the Mechanical Surround” website and on YouTube.
Sarah Sharma is Professor of Media Theory at U of T’s ICCIT/Faculty of Information and Director of the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology. Most recently, Prof. Sharma is the author of Insufferable Tools: Feminism against Big Tech, Duke UP.
Anna Su is Associate Professor at the Jackman Faculty of Law at U of T, as well as a Graduate Faculty member at the DSR. Prof. Su is also an SRI Research Lead, whose publications including the forthcoming “A Right to Reality: Human Dignity and Generative AI” in the Nordic Journal of Human Rights.
Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at U of T, as well as a Faculty Affiliate of the SRI. His recent publications include the co-authored "Data, Annotation, and Meaning-Making: The Politics of Categorization in Annotating a Dataset of Faith-based Communal Violence", Proceedings of the 2024 ACM Conference on Fairness, Accountability, and Transparency (2024).
Pamela Klassen is Chair & Graduate Chair of the Department for the Study of Religion was moderator of the event.
Discover the nuance of the speakers' presentations and the interplay of their areas of expertise in the "Seeking Alignment" video.
Event Gallery
(All photos: Duane Cole)
