Evaluating the Co-dependence and Co-existence between Religion and Robots: Past, Present and Insights on the Future

Ahmed, Habib; La, Hung Manh

doi:10.1007/s12369-020-00636-x

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 80 publications

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“…If Leung's suppositions are correct, then robots (which are commonly associated with trends in AI) are incompatible with religion, and the aims of the BlessU-2 experiment to prompt theological reflection are futile. And yet, as Habib Ahmed and Manh La show, "robots and automata have long been used in religious settings to enliven the spirit and religious teachings in the hearts and minds of followers, especially at important religious ceremonies and festivals" (Ahmed and Manh La 2020). This observation brings us to the second point raised above about the affective dimensions of human-robot interactions.…”

Section: Mediat(is)ing Religion: a Methodology For Approaching Techno...mentioning

confidence: 97%

Posthuman Priests: Exploring the ‘New Visibility of Religion’ in Robotic Re(-)presentations of Religious Rituals

Midson

2022

Religions

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In 2017, visitors to a church in Wittenberg were given the opportunity to receive blessings from a robot. The so-called ‘robot priest’, named ‘BlessU-2’, poses a lot of questions and possibilities. One of these is about the ways that robots might mediate and represent religious teachings, beliefs, and experiences, which is the focus of this paper. Taking Hoelzl and Ward’s ‘new visibility of religion’ hypothesis, the paper asks about what kind of visibility BlessU-2—and similar robots in religious contexts—represents: is it whimsical; novel; authentic; secular? By locating the robot in historical and theological frameworks, the nuances of what it represents and how it might be seen to mediate religiosity in some way are revealed and discussed.

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Section: Mediat(is)ing Religion: a Methodology For Approaching Techno...mentioning

confidence: 97%

Posthuman Priests: Exploring the ‘New Visibility of Religion’ in Robotic Re(-)presentations of Religious Rituals

Midson

2022

Religions

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“…Authors also engage in theoretical reflection on the influence of various religious and cultural traditions on people's attitudes towards robots and AI, focusing on the differences between Eastern and Western cultures (Persson et al 2021). They analyze how different religions influence the perception and acceptance of technologies and how these are translated into diverse approaches to machines and AI in specific cultures and religious traditions (Ahmed and La 2021). The conclusions of these analyses indicate a significant effect of religious and cultural traditions on the way different societies react to the development and implementation of advanced technologies (Prabhakaran et al 2022).…”

Section: Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

The Relationship between Religiosity Level and Emotional Responses to Artificial Intelligence in University Students

Kozak,

Fel

2024

Religions

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This article aims to analyze the correlations between the level of religiosity and emotional responses to artificial intelligence (AI). In these times marked by the growing penetration of artificial intelligence into people’s everyday lives, it is important to identify the sociocultural determinants of attitudes towards this increasingly dynamically developing technology. A significant element of society’s cultural mosaic is religiosity, and, as such, it undoubtedly has an effect on emotional responses to AI. This is a reason to investigate how religions and religiosity impact attitudes towards AI. The study used Welch’s analysis of variance (ANOVA) to compare university students’ emotional reactions to AI across religiosity levels, which allowed for identifying significant differences in the levels of emotions such as fear, sadness, and anger between irreligious, religious, and indifferent groups. Significant differences in emotional responses to AI were found between individuals with different religiosity levels. Compared to irreligious and indifferent students, the religious ones more often showed intense emotions, such as fear and anger. The results indicate the need to include the issues of religion and religiosity in the process of designing and implementing AI. This may contribute to a greater acceptance of this technology in a society of individuals with different levels of religiosity. Understanding the effect of religiosity on the response to AI is also of considerable importance for the development and implementation of ethically responsible AI solutions, which should take account of the diversity of individuals’ beliefs and value systems.

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“…Furthermore, it is not considered adequate to attribute morality and legality to robots based on an ontological analysis (Gezer, 2022;Görgülü -Kesgin, 2021). Based on the literature, the number of studies on the interaction between robotics and religion in various belief systems has increased in recent years (Ahmed -La, 2021;Baffelli, 2021;Cheong, 2020;McBride, 2015McBride, , 2019Midson, 2022;Weng et al, 2019). Katz et al (2015, 35) argued that the literature on the acceptance of robots focuses on Judeo-Christian, Shinto, and Buddhist traditions and emphasized that belief systems such as Islam and Hinduism have been neglected.…”

Section: The Religion-robotics Interactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Interaction of Religion and Robotics and al-Sāmirī’s Calf (the Golden Calf) as an Early Theomorphic Robot

ŞAHİN

Gültekin

2023

Ilahiyat Studies

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The interaction between technology and religion has led to discussions on social robots in religious studies. Various robots have been produced to conduct funerals, give blessings, respond to personal prayer requests, preach, answer religious questions, or instruct religious education. Parallel to these developments, the term theomorphic robot was introduced to describe robots employed for religious purposes, and the characteristics of this type of robot have been described. Attitudes toward technological advances have been influenced by the religious or cultural origins of individuals and society. The present study investigates the “calf”, called “The Story of al-Sāmirī” in Islam and the “Golden calf” in Judaism, in terms of theomorphic robot design and features and discusses whether the “calf” can be considered an early theomorphic robot. It is concluded that the “calf” can be considered an example of an early theomorphic robot in terms of most of its features, and the Story of al-Sāmirī can be employed as a criterion for theomorphic robot analysis. This can explain the interaction between religion and robotics in Muslim culture. Attitudes toward the interaction of religion and robotics vary based on the description and perception of theomorphic robots.

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Evaluating the Co-dependence and Co-existence between Religion and Robots: Past, Present and Insights on the Future

Cited by 8 publications

References 80 publications

Posthuman Priests: Exploring the ‘New Visibility of Religion’ in Robotic Re(-)presentations of Religious Rituals

Posthuman Priests: Exploring the ‘New Visibility of Religion’ in Robotic Re(-)presentations of Religious Rituals

The Relationship between Religiosity Level and Emotional Responses to Artificial Intelligence in University Students

The Interaction of Religion and Robotics and al-Sāmirī’s Calf (the Golden Calf) as an Early Theomorphic Robot

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