Since 2020, religious leaders from major world religions have been collectively promoting “algorethics,” namely, an anthropocentric and ethics-oriented artificial intelligence (AI) framework, in response to the growing ethical concerns posed by rapidly developing AI technology. The current global and national AI governance model has left institutional and epistemic gaps. This working paper argues that religion has a unique advantage in guiding AI ethical governance. Religion-informed AI ethics can function as a shared ethical language and participatory framework. Religious institutions possess a well-established transnational, political and social infrastructure that can be employed to build consensus and influence AI policy. Religions offer solid and strong legal and historical underpinnings to drive implementation and accountability in AI governance. Religious values can further be leveraged in bridging epistemic gaps and geopolitical disagreement in terms of AI and the digital divide. Canada’s AI policy makers fail to leverage the invaluable sources from religious ethical frameworks embedded in Canada’s religious, Indigenous and ethnic immigrant communities. The government needs to function as an enabler and a convener for formal coalition building across religious organizations, leaders, communities, ethicist leaders and religious academics, and play a proactive role in engaging with international religious bodies involved in AI ethics.
