Pope Leo XIV has decried AI as a threat to human dignity, but it’s not just the devoutly faithful who might worry about how AI squares with their beliefs. David Durman, a nontheistic Humanist, recently secured a religious exemption from using AI in the workplace. It centers on “human well-being and flourishing, both individually and collectively […] and implores a person to try to improve both their well-being and their flourishing as well as the others around them.” As he watched AI grow more popular in daily life, Durman sought out the American Humanist Association (AHA) — a nonprofit advancing secular humanism — to investigate how he could gain legal protections against having to use AI at work.
He believes that using the technology runs counter to his beliefs. In a statement published by the AHA earlier this week, Durman wrote, “AI is interfering with people’s ability to earn a living, the environmental costs spell disaster for humanity and our planet, and its supplanting and theft of human creativity threaten elements of our culture like art and literature that make society flourish.” Humanism is not anti-religious, but it tends to appeal to people who are skeptical of a god or other supernatural power yet still seek a scientific and moral framework to ground themselves in. Durman is the first Humanist to secure workplace accommodations that allow him to abstain from AI use, and one of the first people to publicly discuss their pursuit of these protections.
He was inspired to seek them when he read that Erin Maus, a Unitarian Universalist and software engineer, was able to secure similar protections for herself. But in Durman’s administrative role, in which he supports researchers applying for grants, he has not been required to use AI at work. Like many workers across fields, some of his colleagues and leadership have recommended that employees try out these tools, so he sought to secure his exemption now, in case the suggestion becomes a mandate in the future.
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