HDS Launches Artificial Intelligence, Religion, and Ethics Initiative

Harvard Divinity School (HDS) has launched the Artificial Intelligence, Religion, and Ethics (AIRE) Initiative to bring the study of religion into conversations about how artificial intelligence is designed, used, and governed. 

As AI systems become more common in daily life, developers are writing instructions to guide how the systems respond to questions of fairness, harm, responsibility, and human dignity. AIRE will convene AI developers, religious leaders, and scholars to examine those assumptions and consider how the world’s religious and moral traditions can inform the work. 

"Artificial intelligence is reshaping decisions and relationships across public and private life, raising ethical questions at the heart of our work at Harvard Divinity School," said Dean Marla F. Frederick. "The study of religious traditions can help us address important existential questions regarding the very existence of AI models and what they mean for the future of humanity, as well as how they may reshape the ways people understand and practice religion. Through AIRE, we are bringing the insights of these traditions into conversations about AI and asking how these systems can be developed and used in ways that both honor the human dignity of individuals and support the well-being of our communities." 

These conversations are already underway. In August 2026, HDS brought together representatives of several leading AI labs, senior religious leaders, and scholars from prominent universities. At a later session, participants reviewed guidance documents developed by several AI labs. Future discussions will focus on AI model specifications, with participants offering feedback informed by a range of religious and moral traditions. 

The initiative contains three core components:  

1. Gathering and sharing existing research while developing resources for students and educators, faith communities, AI developers, and the broader public.  
2. Researching the potential benefits and harms of AI in different settings.  
3. Convening public and focused events for the Harvard community and beyond to explore the ethical questions AI raises. 

"Our students and faculty are intensely aware of the ethical and moral challenges posed by the emergence of AI," said David Holland, Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Affairs. "The AIRE Initiative creates the opportunity for members of our community to bring their scholarly expertise and their cultural experience to bear in careful analyses of the development, the deployment, and the application of these new tools. This effort will add powerfully to the structures of accountability and assessment necessary for the ethical management of this transformative technology." 

David C. Lamberth, Professor of Philosophy and Theology, will lead the initiative. HDS will welcome Agana-Nsiire Agana as Postdoctoral Researcher in Artificial Intelligence and Religion in January 2027. The initiative has also recruited doctoral and master’s students as research associates, who will conduct original research and produce materials for consultations and wider audiences, both academic and public. 

The AIRE Initiative will collaborate with groups already exploring faith and ethics in AI, including the Consortium for Evaluation of Faith and Ethics in AI (CEFE-AI), and learn from similar work at other institutions. The initiative will draw on HDS’s scholarship on the world's religious traditions and expertise across Harvard to bring religious and moral perspectives into conversations about AI and its effects on communities. 

"The new AIRE Initiative aims to respond nimbly to the current moment, bringing the pluralistic and multireligious expertise we have at Harvard Divinity School to bear on this quickly changing scene in ways that allow us, hopefully, to influence these developments for the better,” said Lamberth. “Through this effort, we will continue to build sustained dialogue among people who study religious traditions, those developing AI systems, and leaders of religious communities. We also are working to synthesize academic reflection on AI from the perspectives of different religious traditions around the globe. We will also conduct original research on topics such as how AI model’s ‘constitutions’ look from various religious traditions perspectives and how various models respond to issues of importance to different religious communities and to users."

Campus labyrinth banner photo by Kristie Welsh