“Freedom of Religion or Belief” is Dead

Pasquale Annicchino is a senior assistant professor of law at the University of Foggia (Italy). He is a member of the OSCE/ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Religion or Belief.

 How many times have we used the phrase “freedom of religion or belief”? Could it be that we have been mistaken in employing that phrase all along? The rapid pace of technological change might necessitate a reevaluation, bringing us back to the original phrasing in Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “freedom of thought, conscience and religion.”

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The Sacralization of AI and the AI-zation of the Sacred

The presence of AI, in the form of smart technologies and machines, is rapidly becoming an intrinsic part of our lives. It teaches, guides, advises, and entertains us, and at times seems to know better than we do which media best fit our own views or what we want for dinner. It also threatens to further polarize human societies by locking individuals and groups into their own political and ideological bubbles without the opportunity, or even the intention, to interact civilly with “opponents.”

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Another Case of Déjà Vu: The Sacrifice of Conscience to Monsters

Dr. Neville Rochow KC is an Australian barrister, associate professor (adjunct) at the University of Adelaide Law School, and a member of Elliot Johnston Chambers in Adelaide. The post is a part the Sacralization of AI series.

Introduction

The possession of a conscience is a fulcrum of the human rights project. The defining characteristic of humankind is the possession of conscience. Variously described, and difficult to define [1], conscience is essential to our capacity to make moral judgments. As Douglas Langston described “conscience,” it is “as a judging and punishing faculty” or an “internal judge” [2]. Summarizing the thought of Immanuel Kant and Sigmund Freud on the subject, conscience can be regarded as “moral reasoning, a personal monitor, emotive reasoning” [3]. Morality is not and cannot be mechanical [4]. Despite this, we seem willing to submit to totalitarian regimes that do not rule according to conscience and that profess no moral values: the corporation, and the algorithm.

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