Newbold conference asks what religious freedom means when AI can infer belief

Religious freedom before the conference

Newbold College of Higher Education is scheduled to host the International Religious Liberty Association’s Fides et Libertas conference on November 11–12 in Binfield, England. Its focus is religious freedom amid emerging technologies. For churches considering AI tools, the practical issue reaches beyond whether a system produces sound religious answers: what could it learn about the people using it? Source: newbold.ac.uk

The public conference follows a separate IRLA experts meeting scheduled for November 9–10. The programme includes discussions of conscience, religious identity and technology governance. These are announced subjects, not evidence that participants have agreed on findings or adopted a policy. Source: irla.org

The organisers’ concept notes distinguish information people explicitly provide from religious beliefs inferred through their digital behaviour. They also examine how surveillance may discourage religious expression and how recommendation systems can affect the visibility of religious perspectives. The document presents these as problems for investigation, not as measurements of a particular product’s effects. Source: irla.org

Questions for a congregation’s own tools

That distinction matters in a congregation’s own purchasing decisions. Consider a hypothetical study app that recommends material from a person’s reading history. A helpful recommendation and a sensitive inference can arise from the same activity. Church leaders should therefore ask what the supplier records, what conclusions it draws, who receives those conclusions and whether the person can challenge or remove them. These are editorial questions prompted by the agenda, not recommendations already issued by the conference.

A useful review would begin with one actual workflow rather than a general declaration that the church supports responsible AI. Who introduces the tool? What does a newcomer understand about its use? Can someone choose a human conversation without having to explain their refusal? Which named person will investigate a complaint?

For a Christian community, treating people as neighbours means taking those choices seriously, including when the person’s beliefs are uncertain or different from those of the institution. Pastoral concern should not become a reason to make someone more observable than they expected. This is a Christian ethical application, not a claim about the speakers’ conclusions.

Check arrangements before attending

Newbold lists free admission with advance registration and limited places. Prospective attendees should confirm arrangements directly: its overview and the detailed programme differ on session hours. This report establishes the published agenda only; it does not report attendance, proceedings or outcomes. Source: newbold.ac.uk