教皇利奥十四世谴责人工智能是对人类尊严的威胁，但不仅是虔诚的信徒才会担心人工智能如何与他们的信仰相契合。大卫·德曼是一位非神论的人道主义者，最近在工作中获得了免于使用人工智能的宗教豁免权。
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.
“人道主义是关于人类体验以及人类如何与世界互动的一系列信念，”德曼说，他是肯塔基大学的一名管理人员，对TechCrunch表示。人道主义以“个人和集体层面的人类福祉与繁荣为中心……并敦促个人努力改善自身以及周围他人的福祉和繁荣。”随着人工智能在日常生活中越来越普及，德曼联系了美国人道主义协会（AHA）——一个推动世俗人道主义的非营利组织——以探究如何获得法律保护，免于在工作中使用人工智能。他认为使用这项技术违背了他的信念。
“Humanism is a collection of beliefs about the human experience and how humans interact with the world,” Durman, a University of Kentucky administrator, told TechCrunch. 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.
“我们成为自身和他人道德行为者的方式，是通过积极运用我们的头脑，而[通过使用人工智能]削弱这一点，必然会对我们这样做的能力产生负面影响，”他说，反思过度依赖人工智能可能如何影响批判性思维。
“The way we become moral actors for ourselves and for others is through the active application of our minds, and the diminishing of that [through AI use] is going to necessarily have a negative impact on our ability to do so,” he said, reflecting on how overreliance on AI might affect critical thinking.
本周早些时候，AHA发表的一份声明中，德曼写道：“人工智能正在干扰人们谋生的能力，环境成本对人类和我们的星球构成灾难，而它对人类创造力的取代和窃取，威胁着艺术和文学等使社会繁荣的文化要素。”人道主义并非反宗教，但它往往吸引那些对神或其他超自然力量持怀疑态度，却仍寻求科学和道德框架来支撑自身的人。
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.
“担忧人工智能与人类尊严的问题，可以贯穿多种不同的信仰和传统，无论是天主教教义、普世主义，还是人道主义，我们希望人道主义者或无神论者知道，他们也属于这些类别——在工作中，他们同样受到法律保护，”美国人道主义协会律师亚历山德拉·休斯肯斯对TechCrunch表示。
“Concern about AI and human dignity can run through several different faiths and traditions, whether that’s Catholic teachings, or Universalism, or Humanism, and we want Humanists or nontheists to know that they fall into these categories — that they are also protected by the law at work,” Alexandria Huiskens, Staff Attorney at the AHA, told TechCrunch.
德曼是第一位获得允许其拒绝使用人工智能的工作场所便利安排的人道主义者，也是最早公开讨论争取此类保护的人之一。他在读到一位名为艾琳·莫斯的单位普世主义者和软件工程师能够为自己争取到类似保护后，受到启发，决定寻求这些保护。
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.
“对我来说，这关乎我自己和我的信念，”德曼说。“我显然不是想告诉别人该怎么想或怎么感受……但我确实希望，这能鼓励那些有类似担忧的人，不一定去争取宗教豁免，而是尽其所能，在他们觉得最合适的地方追求自己的担忧。”肯塔基大学发言人杰伊·布兰顿告诉TechCrunch，该机构会逐个审查宗教便利安排请求，考虑员工的工作职责和请求的具体情况。
“For me, this was about me and my convictions,” Durman said. “I’m obviously not trying to tell people how to think or feel… But I do hope that it encourages people who have similar concerns to pursue not necessarily religious exemption, but pursue their concerns to the best of their ability where they feel is the most appropriate.”University of Kentucky spokesperson Jay Blanton told TechCrunch that the institution reviews requests for religious accommodations on an individual basis, considering the employee’s job responsibilities and the circumstances of the request.
“在这种情况下，大学确定可以提供便利安排，同时允许该员工继续履行其职位的基本职责，”布兰顿在一份声明中表示。“随着技术和工作职责的演变，便利安排可能会接受审查，以确保其仍然合理且可行。”莫斯的情况尤其不寻常，因为软件工程师在没有任何人工智能协助的情况下编写代码的现象已变得罕见。但在德尔曼的行政职位中，他负责支持申请拨款的研究人员，工作中并未被要求使用人工智能。
“In this case, the university determined that an accommodation could be provided while allowing the employee to continue performing the essential functions of their position,” Blanton said in a statement. “As technology and job responsibilities evolve, accommodations may be reviewed to ensure they remain reasonable and workable.”Maus’ situation is especially unusual, since it has become rare for software engineers to write code without any AI assistance. But in Durman’s administrative role, in which he supports researchers applying for grants, he has not been required to use AI at work.
与许多不同领域的员工一样，他的一些同事和领导层建议员工尝试这些工具，因此他现在寻求确保自己的豁免，以防建议将来变成强制要求。
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.
“我希望如果[其他人]有类似感受，他们会感到受到鼓励，去寻求某种解决方案，”德尔曼表示。
“I hope that if [others] have similar feelings, that they feel encouraged to pursue some kind of resolution,” Durman said.