Hawzah News Agency- Held under the theme "From Theology to Policy-Making: A Civilizational Analysis of Artificial Intelligence and the Environment," the session featured a keynote address by Dr. Hadi Homayoun, faculty member at Imam Sadiq University and former deputy for humanities at the Islamic Azad University.
Dr. Homayoun delved into the theological, civilizational, and policy dimensions of emerging technologies—with a particular focus on artificial intelligence—in relation to pressing environmental concerns. He underscored the urgent need for an interdisciplinary approach bridging the gap between technological advancement, religious thought, and ecological stewardship.
The session was chaired by Mehdi Erfanian, secretary of the Fiqh and Environmental Law Core at Baqir al-Olum University, and drew participation from academics, researchers, students, and experts in the fields of technology studies, environmental science, and the humanities, both in-person and online.
'Technology Must Be Understood Through a Civilizational Framework'
Addressing the gathering, Dr. Homayoun argued that the rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies cannot be divorced from deeper questions of meaning, ethics, and civilizational direction. He warned against a purely technocratic approach that neglects the moral and spiritual dimensions of technological progress.
"The environmental crisis is not merely a technical problem awaiting a technical solution," Homayoun stated. "It is, at its core, a crisis of worldview—one that demands a theological response rooted in a comprehensive civilizational vision."
He called on religious scholars, policymakers, and scientists to forge a common language capable of addressing the intertwined challenges of AI governance and environmental degradation, stressing that the Islamic intellectual tradition possesses rich resources for constructing an alternative paradigm to the dominant materialist frameworks.
Part of a Broader Scholarly Dialogue
The session forms part of a series of specialized gatherings leading up to the Second International Conference on Religion, Culture, and Technology, a collaborative initiative backed by Baqir al-Olum University, Sharif University of Technology, the University of Tehran, and the Cyberspace Research Institute.
Organizers say the conference aims to create a sustained platform for interdisciplinary dialogue on the evolving relationship between religion, culture, and emerging technologies, amid growing global recognition that the great questions of the technological age cannot be answered by engineering alone.
Your Comment