The MSU Foglio Speaker Series on Spirituality is hosting three virtual talks this November exploring how artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping spirituality, religious practices, and questions of ethics, authority, and social justice.

Across three consecutive Mondays, leading scholars of religion, technology, ethics, and culture will consider some of the most pressing questions emerging alongside AI: What happens when technologies begin to function as spiritual companions or sources of authority? How might AI reproduce or disrupt the logics of contemporary wellness culture? What does the growth of AI mean for social justice and equity? And how might artificial intelligence transform how we understand spirituality itself?

“In unique ways, each of these talks invites us to move beyond the question of whether AI is simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’ for religion and spirituality,” said Morgan Shipley, Inaugural Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality and Chairperson of MSU’s Department of Religious Studies. “Instead, they ask how AI is reshaping enduring questions about human flourishing, authority, transcendence, justice, embodiment, limitation, and what it means to be human.”

“Each of these talks invites us to move beyond the question of whether AI is simply ‘good’ or ‘bad’… Instead, they ask how AI is reshaping enduring questions about human flourishing, authority, transcendence, justice, embodiment, limitation, and what it means to be human.”

Morgan Shipley, Inaugural Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality and Religious Studies Department Chairperson

Initiated in honor of Father Jake Foglio, the MSU Foglio Speaker Series on Spirituality offers the opportunity to explore the manifold meanings and applications of “spirituality” in the contemporary world through lectures, talks, workshops, and experiential events. The series aims to cultivate greater awareness of and appreciation for the many ways spirituality manifests across global religious cultures (including issues of appropriation), interacts with public life, and emerges as a secular orientation for pursuing meaning, purpose, belongingness, and justice.

All three talks are free, will be held via Zoom, and are open to the public. Registration is required. Additional information about each presentation, including Zoom registration links, is provided below.

The Technocratic Paradigm: How AI and Wellness Culture Share a Religious Logic

Liz Bucar, Professor of Religion and Dean’s Leadership Fellow at Northeastern University
Monday, Nov. 2, 11 a.m.-Noon

Liz Bucar examines the shared logic connecting contemporary health and wellness culture with AI’s promises of digital gurus, AI companions, optimization, and even post-biological transcendence, using cases like an AI trained on a wellness guru’s teachings and a chatbot that nearly convinced a pastor to ignore a medical emergency.

This talk will invite the audience to consider what happens when technology promises to overcome limitation, weakness, and suffering itself. 

Zoom Registration Link

Religion, AI, and Social Justice: Centering Equity and Opportunity

Sylvester Johnson, Professor and Chair in the Department of Black Studies at Northwestern University
Monday, Nov. 9, 11 a.m.-Noon

Sylvester Johnson turns attention to the social and ethical implications of emerging technologies, examining what becomes possible when communities deliberately center social justice and equity in efforts to harness AI for the public interest and economic inclusion. 

In this talk, Johnson will examine the implications for AI when communities deliberately focus on social justice and equity to harness technology as a means to advance public interest and economic inclusion.

Zoom Registration Link 

Independent Spirits? AI as Continuity, Disruption, and Inspiration in Spirituality

Beth Singler, Assistant Professor in Digital Religion(s), Co-Director of the University Research Priority Programme (URPP) in Digital Religion(s), and a Director of the Digital Society Initiative at the University of Zurich
Monday, Nov. 16, 11 a.m.-Noon

Beth Singler, a leading scholar of digital religion, concludes the series by examining AI as a site of continuity, disruption, and inspiration within contemporary spirituality. Her research explores the social, ethical, philosophical, and religious implications of advances in artificial intelligence and robotics. 

Zoom Registration Link