Religious Leaders and AI Experts Launch Summer Series on “AI and Human Flourishing.” This eight-part webinar series will spotlight AI international scholars.
NEW YORK, NY, UNITED STATES, June 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — The G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20), the world’s leading organization focused on the intersection of faith and policy, in collaboration with the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation (IAMC), is launching an eight-part summer webinar series titled “AI and Human Flourishing.” The series opens on Thursday, June 18, 2026, with an inaugural session, “AI and Faith,” gathering leading technologists and scholars from across religious traditions to examine what artificial intelligence means for human dignity, purpose, and moral responsibility.
AI and faith meet at the point where technology forces humanity to reconsider dignity, purpose, and moral responsibility. Many religious traditions see AI as a positive tool for society to use, while also raising concerns about justice, identity, and the limits of machine reasoning. Across these traditions, leaders emphasize that AI must remain grounded in human moral agency, empathy, and spiritual insight. The dialogue between AI and faith, organizers say, is not about resisting technology but about shaping it—ensuring that AI serves humanity ethically, preserves what is sacred about human life, and supports a future rooted in wisdom, compassion, and moral responsibility.
“Currently the frontier AI corporations are racing to replace humans in work, relationships and decision-making,” said Will Jones, who leads the religions initiative at the Future of Life Institute. “Religious leaders and groups are vital in ensuring we take a better path for humanity, and from the Vatican to grassroots movements, they are rising to the task, but there remains much to be done.”
Chris Scammell, co-founder of the Buddhism & AI Initiative, framed the stakes in spiritual terms. “The rapid acceleration of AI and unchecked power of this technology is a spiritual matter that deserves critique and guidance from humanity’s wisdom traditions,” he said, adding that “Buddhism recognizes AI as a technology of mind that conditions, and threatens, human attention and intention.”
The “AI and Faith” webinar will take place on Thursday, June 18, 2026, at Noon EDT.
“AI and Faith” is the first of eight free webinars in the “AI and Human Flourishing” series, which runs throughout the summer and explores the ethical, spiritual, environmental, and societal questions raised by artificial intelligence. Attendees can learn more about each session and register for any or all of them here: Register for the AI and Human Flourishing series.
Speakers will include:
• Audrey E. Kitagawa, J.D. (Moderator) — Founder and President of the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation (IAMC) and Chair of the G20 Interfaith Forum Anti-Racism Initiative. A former Advisor to the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, she has worked for decades at the intersection of faith, human rights, and multicultural cooperation.
• Will Jones — Associate of the Futures Program at the Future of Life Institute (FLI), where he leads FLI’s religions initiative. The Futures Program aims to guide humanity toward the beneficial outcomes made possible by transformative technologies; the religions initiative supports religious groups in voicing their faith-specific concerns and hopes for a world with AI, and works with them to resist the harms and realize the benefits. He attained First Class Honours in English from the University of Cambridge in 2021.
• Dr. DZ Kalman — Host of Belief in the Future, a podcast about religion and technology. He is a fellow at Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society, leads a research team on AI and Judaism at the Shalom Hartman Institute, and is a senior advisor at Sinai and Synapses. A member of the Faith Family Technology Network and of AI and Faith, he writes at Jello Menorah.
• Chris Scammell — Co-founder of the Buddhism & AI Initiative, which brings together Buddhist practitioners, technologists, and contemplative researchers to shape the future of artificial intelligence. He was previously Chief Operating Officer of Conjecture, an AI safety company that emerged from the open-source collective EleutherAI, and holds a degree in Computer Science, Anthropology, and Philosophy from Colby College. He studied with the Carleton-Antioch Buddhist Studies Programme in Bodh Gaya, has lived in Buddhist monasteries in London, Canada, and India, and attended the 2025 Mind & Life Dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama on minds, AI, and ethics. His writing on emptiness, AI alignment, and Buddhist responses to AI development appears at the Buddhism & AI Initiative Substack.
About the G20 Interfaith Forum
The G20 Interfaith Forum seeks global solutions by collaborating with religious thought leaders and political representatives to help shape the overall G20 agenda. It draws on the vital roles that religious institutions and beliefs play in world affairs, reflecting a rich diversity of institutions, ideas, and values. Through its extensive network of networks, it helps prioritize key global policy goals and point toward practical means of implementation at every level of society.
About the International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation
The International Academy for Multicultural Cooperation (IAMC), founded and led by Audrey E. Kitagawa, J.D., promotes intercultural and interfaith understanding through education, dialogue, and collaborative programs that advance peace, justice, and human dignity around the world.
Marianna Richardson
G20 Interfaith Forum
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