Description
As AI begins generating sermons, answering theological questions, and even issuing automated fatwas, sacred authority faces a new test. Can machine logic align with religious wisdom — or are we witnessing its quiet transformation?
In this multifaith panel, Rabbi Dr Harris Bor — a barrister, theologian, and AI ethics commissioner — joins Dr Yaqub Chaudhary — a Visiting Scholar at the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence whose work explores the epistemology and metaphysics of AI — and Revd Dr Chris Goswami, a tech industry veteran, part-time airport chaplain and Associate Minister at Lymm Baptist Church. Together, they explore how AI is entering spaces once reserved for spiritual counsel.
From Islamic chatbots to the Vatican’s ethical concerns, the panel will examine how faith traditions are responding to AI’s expanding role in spiritual life. Chaired by Zeshan Zafar, Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Forum for Peace.
About the Speakers
Reverend Dr Chris Goswami
Chris Goswami has three decades experience in high-tech organisations and currently works as a strategic adviser. He is part-time Chaplain at Manchester Airport, Associate Minister at Lymm Baptist Church, and writes regularly atwww.7minutes.net.
Starting as a Software Engineer in the UK, Chris became Vice President at two Silicon Valley companies. He successfully delivered many innovative technology projects in this time. He was brought up in the UK as a Hindu, became a Christian at 19 and has since then served in many leadership roles in local churches. Goswami has a First Class BA in Theology, First Class BSc in Electronic Engineering, holds an MSc and Ph.D. in Telecommunications, and is a Chartered Engineer.
Chris founded the AI Christian Partnership in late 2023. He is married to Alison with 3 grown up daughters and lives in Cheshire, UK.
Rabbi Dr Harris Bor
Harris Bor is a Commissioner at the AI, Faith and Civil Society Commission, a Research Fellow and Lecturer at the London School of Jewish Studies and a barrister (trial advocate) specialising in international arbitration and commercial litigation. He holds a PhD in Theology from Cambridge University, is a rabbinic scholar with the Montefiore Endowment, and has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University and University College London.
Dr Yaqub Chaudhary
Dr Yaqub Chaudhary holds a PhD in Physics from Imperial College London, where he worked on the Physics of Plastic Electronic Materials and their potential use in future types of lasers. Prior to this he studied Electronic Engineering at the same institution. As Research Fellow in Science and Religion he is furthering his long-standing interest in Artificial Intelligence, and in his current research project he considers recent developments in the fields of AI, cognitive science and neuroscience in connection with Islamic conceptions of the mind, intelligence, human reasoning, cognition, knowledge, and the nature of perception and consciousness.
About the Chair
Zeshan Zafar
Zeshan Zafar is the Executive Director of the Abu Dhabi Forum For Peace and the Chair of the UK Forum For Peace. He has spent his career bringing together individuals from multi-disciplinary backgrounds in the pursuit of promoting dialogue and collaboration, and now focuses on how this can be brought to the UK. Born and raised in Wales, Zeshan Zafar is passionate about strengthening the ethos of the British Muslim community to which he belongs. As well as being an active voice in this context, he has also played a key role in the establishment of international initiatives including the Forum’s annual assemblies in Abu Dhabi, the historic Marrakesh Declaration, and the Alliance of Virtue.
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