Tuesday 4 april 2023, 14:30 – 16:00
Mattioli University Building, Via P.A. Mattioli 10, Siena
"From Face to Faith: Freedom of Religion, AI, and Facial Recognition" - Massimo Leone
A lecture for the Course of Religious Diplomacy, MA in Public and Cultural Diplomacy
Abstract
The current rampant development of artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the scenario of the automatic detection of religious meaning, opening new scenarios for the intelligibility of religious traditions, texts, practices, and behaviors, but also for the technologically advanced reproduction of religion-based biases, and for the subjection of religious individuals and commu-nities to the monitoring, control, and even repression by agencies of power. The talk will summarize the most relevant trends in this field, pointing out, in particular, how the AI analysis of the face plays now a perturbing role in the global panorama of religious geopolitics.
Massimo Leone is professore ordinario at Turin University, the director of the Centre for religious studies at Fondazione Bruno Kessler, Trento and the principal investigator of the ERC Facets project