Harm, AI, and Religion | Discourse! June 2023

In our final Discourse! episode of the season, Andie Alexander, Craig Martin, and Paul-François Tremlett team up to discuss the concept of “harm” and religion as it pertains to recent legislation in Texas, the role of religion in politics in Scotland’s recent election for First Minister, and questions of AI, religion, and desire. It’s quite the conversation, so be sure to tune in!

• “Bill to Force Texas Public Schools to Display Ten Commandments Fails” NYT
• “Texas lawmakers approve bill to allow school districts to replace counselors with chaplains” Washington Post
• “Unlicensed religious chaplains may counsel students in Texas’ public schools after lawmakers OK proposal” Texas Tribune
• “Trouble in Texas: Lone Star State legislators are trying to merge religion and public education — and other states are following suit” Americans United
• “Gov. Greg Abbott signs legislation barring trans youth from accessing transition-related care” Texas Tribune
• “Can humans ever understand how animals think?” The Guardian
• “Seeing Spirituality in Chimpanzees” The Atlantic
• “AI will be everywhere, but its rise will be mundane not apocalyptic” The Guardian
• “‘They’re afraid their AIs will come for them’: Doug Rushkoff on why tech billionaires are in escape mode” The Guardian
• “Is No 10 waking up to dangers of artificial intelligence?” The Guardian
• “AI ‘godfather’ Geoffrey Hinton warns of dangers as he quits Google” BBC
• “Alabama Legislature votes to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth” NPR
• “Alabama urges court to revive strict ban on gender-affirming care for minors” Reuters
• “Alabama becomes the 22nd state to allow people to carry concealed guns without permit” CNN
• GlasgowGPT
• “It’s not bigoted to criticize Kate Forbes. Sometimes, in politics, religion is fair game“
• “Kate Forbes says trans women are ‘biological males’ as SNP leadership candidate faces more questions“