Notre Dame lands grant to create faith-based ethical framework for AI
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The University of Notre Dame has been awarded a $539,000 grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. to help create a faith-based ethical framework for applications of artificial intelligence.
The university aims to establish a network of scholars, technology industry experts and faith leaders to study the implications of the rapid rise of artificial general intelligence (AGI) and disseminate faith-based ethical frameworks in its use, Notre Dame said. The one-year project will include identifying key participants, holding focus groups to determine priorities, and laying the groundwork for next steps.
A major conference is expected to be held in September 2025.
“This is a pivotal moment for technology ethics,” said philosophy professor Meghan Sullivan, who is the director of the Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good. “AGI is developing quickly and has the potential to change our economies, our systems of education and the fabric of our social lives. We believe that the wisdom of faith traditions can make a significant contribution to the development of ethical frameworks for AGI.”
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence has created much debate about its potential to revolutionize entire industries, the U.S. Government Accountability Office has noted, but at the same time has raised concerns, including in areas such as education, privacy and oversight.
Notre Dame believes that faith-based ethical frameworks are critical in the use of the technology.
“This project will encourage broader dialogue about the role that concepts such as dignity, embodiment, love, transcendence and being created in the image of God should play in how we understand and use this technology,” Sullivan said. “These concepts—at the bedrock of many faith-based traditions—are vital for how we advance the common good in the era of AGI.”
The development of the AI framework as well as the Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good are part of a broader ethics initiative at Notre Dame. In April, the university announced a new research center on the study of virtue ethics, Inside INdiana Business reported.