Luca Pietro Vanoni is a full professor of comparative public law at the University of Milan. Benedetta Vimercati is an associate professor of constitutional law at the University of Milan. This post is a part of our series…
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.”
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.”