By Marianna Richardson (based on her talk given at the Organized Intelligence Conference in Salt Lake City, Nov. 4-5, 2025)
Background
The G20 is an intergovernmental forum composed of 19 countries, the European Union, and the African Union. It addresses major global economic and policy issues, with the host country selecting key topics for discussion each year. Specialized engagement groups such as Business 20 and Youth 20 present policy papers to the G20. The G20 Interfaith Forum (IF20) is an informal engagement group that focuses on faith-based perspectives, involving religious leaders, civil society, and government officials interested in interfaith dialogue.
For the past three years, the G20 Interfaith Forums have discussed the issues of artificial intelligence (AI) and specific issues that religious leaders, educators, and scholars of various faiths have as they look to the future. The first two meetings were held in both New Delhi and Pune, India during the G20 India 2023 year. The AI discussions were very general because ChatGPT had only launched months earlier on November 30, 2022. The next year, G20 Brazil 2024, the concerns became more specific about legal frameworks, international standards, and effects on youth. Finally, this year for G20 South Africa 2025, the discussions became more intense with theological concerns about AI taking over human relationships and people’s relationships with God, as well as the concern over biases in AI outputs against religions.
G20 India 2023 (New Delhi and Pune)
New Delhi
At the 2023 meeting in New Delhi, participants expressed concern about artificial intelligence becoming part of sacred religious traditions. Marco Ventura, a Vatican scholar, raised the issue of AI robots handing out holy communion. Pope Francis had made a strong statement about artificial intelligence the previous year, which became a major talking point. The Vatican emphasized accountability, impartiality, security, and the protection of individual privacy.
Pune
In Pune, the discussion became more specific, focusing on challenges faced by religious leaders, spiritual educators, and schools. Technology, especially AI, was described as a “Trojan Horse,” embedding values that reshape society in subtle and profound ways. Participants noted that technology often alters human behavior and relationships, disrupting spiritual connections to self, others, the planet, and God. Three of the four panelists were religious leaders involved in education, and they expressed concern about AI influencing students both spiritually and intellectually.
Manisha Jain, a Hindu and former Microsoft AI Lead Engineer with prior experience at Google and Meta, emphasized that technology is advancing at an astronomical rate, making ethical use more important than ever. She compared AI to a gun: while guns can provide food, protection, and enjoyment, they can also cause harm and chaos. Similarly, AI is a necessary tool for society, deeply embedded in daily life, offering great benefits but also posing risks if misused.
G20 Brazil 2024 (Brasilia)
The 2024 meeting in Brasilia took place under the theme “Leave No One Behind: The Well-Being of the Planet and Its People.” By this time, ChatGPT had become a major part of global technological use, and new concerns emerged.
One issue highlighted was the impact of negative hate speech about religions on youth. Thiago Alves Pinto of Oxford University clarified the distinction between misinformation (accidental spread of inaccurate information) and disinformation (intentional spread of false information to cause harm). He noted that large language models lack search engine optimization (SEO), meaning they cannot discriminate between information sources, which allows biases and hate speech to appear in responses.
Angela Redding of the Radiant Foundation presented research showing the prevalence of negative portrayals of religion in media and called for a more balanced representation of religions. Recommendations included conducting more research on hate speech, fostering interfaith dialogue to counter intolerance, and teaching adults and youth to critically evaluate information from AI platforms.
Faith leaders also advocated for legal frameworks and international standards, referencing the Rabat Plan of Action and the United Nations resolutions on combating intolerance. However, differences of opinion persisted. During the panel discussion, Khushwant Singh, Sikh and president of PARD, argued that AI has nothing to do with spirituality and religion, while Prof. Medlir Mema strongly contended that religions must engage in AI discussions and policy to guard against evolving issues. These two opinions illustrate the range of opinions on the role of religions in determining AI policy.
In March 2025, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) conducted a study on the relationship between Judaism and AI. The study revealed significant anti-Jewish and anti-Israel biases in leading large language models, including GPT (OpenAI), Claude (Anthropic), Gemini (Google), and Llama (Meta). Llama exhibited the most biased answers towards the Jewish religion, while GPT scored lowest (illustrating more bias) on questions related to Israel’s part in the Israeli-Hamas conflict. The study underscored the need for safeguards and mitigation strategies within the AI industry to guard against biases that can affect religious intolerance.
G20 South Africa 2025 (Cape Town)
The 2025 meeting in Cape Town was anchored in the African philosophy of Ubuntu—“I am because we are”—which shaped the ethical discourse around AI.
Young Adult Forum
Prior to the main forum, a young adult IF20 meeting was held for participants aged 18–35. These advocates emphasized the importance of intergenerational dialogue on AI use and governance, noting that their knowledge and experience could add dimensions older generations might not fully grasp.
Global South Perspectives
Another key discussion point was the technology gap between first-world and third-world countries. The Global South expressed concern about being left behind in AI development. Carike Noeth, South Africa manager of Globethics, stressed that “Africa is not only vulnerable, we’re extremely visionary” and called for African solutions rather than imported models. Africa just needs the resources to carry out their solutions to AI problems.
Government Control and Ethical Concerns
Debates arose over government control of AI. Sean Cleary of FutureWorld insisted that AI can be controlled, while Prof. Fadi Daou of Globethics noted that AI leaders themselves admit they cannot fully control development. Rabbi Golan Ben-Oni offered a Torah-based perspective, arguing that machines cannot feel what resides in the human soul, and highlighted algorithmic biases favoring certain demographics. Rachel Miner, founder of Bellwether, warned that ignoring AI could lead to genocide against biased groups.
Medlir Mema raised concerns about AI’s environmental impact, noting that while AI could help achieve Sustainable Development Goals, companies such as Google, Amazon, and Meta have underreported emissions from AI data centers. He cautioned against assuming innovation alone can solve crises without addressing root causes.
Theological concerns also emerged, particularly the risk of AI becoming a “god” to people. A God AI app currently allows users to send prayers and receive answers, raising parallels to idol worship such as the biblical golden calf.
Conclusion
The discussions across three years of IF20 meetings highlighted several key points:
- AI should not be blamed for all societal problems because AI can also produce answers to these problems.
- Religious leaders must counter AI-driven isolation by fostering human-to-human connections and personal, spiritual relationships with God.
- Youth must be taught to critically evaluate AI-generated answers.
- Interfaith cooperation is essential to combat disinformation and intolerance, with religions working together to address negative portrayals in media and AI outputs.
These three points will be issues that G20 Interfaith Forum continues to address in the future years of G20 USA 2026 and G20 UK 2027.
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Marianna Richardson is the Director of Communications for the G20 Interfaith Forum. She is also an adjunct professor at the Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University.