US university administrator wins religious exemption from using AI at work

David Durman, an administrator at the University of Kentucky in the United States, has obtained a formal workplace accommodation that lets him abstain from using artificial intelligence (AI). He is a Humanist, which is a worldview that does not rely on belief in a god but seeks a scientific and moral framework. Durman is the first Humanist to secure such an arrangement and one of the first people to speak publicly about pursuing one. The case suggests that workplace religious protections against AI requirements can also cover people who do not believe in a god.

How he got it

Durman approached the American Humanist Association (AHA), a nonprofit that advances secular humanism, to learn how he could gain legal protection against having to use AI at work. He believes using the technology conflicts with his convictions. In his view, people become moral actors through the active use of their minds, and AI diminishes that, including by affecting critical thinking.

In a statement published by the AHA, he also pointed to concerns about AI's effect on people's ability to earn a living, its environmental costs, and its impact on human creativity, art and literature.

Alexandria Huiskens, a staff attorney at the AHA, said concern about AI and human dignity runs through several faiths and traditions, and that Humanists should know the law protects them at work too. Pope Leo XIV has criticized AI as a threat to human dignity.

The university's position

University spokesperson Jay Blanton said the institution reviews religious accommodation requests individually, taking into account the employee's duties and the circumstances. In this case it concluded that an accommodation could be provided while the employee continues to perform the essential functions of the position. Accommodations may be reviewed as technology and job responsibilities change.

A earlier case

Durman was inspired by Erin Maus, a Unitarian Universalist and software engineer who secured similar protections. Her situation is unusual, since few software engineers now write code without AI help. Durman supports researchers applying for grants and has not been required to use AI, but colleagues and leadership have recommended trying such tools. He sought the exemption now in case the recommendation later becomes a requirement.