The University of Notre Dame’s Institute for the Ethics and the Common Good (ECG), directed by philosophy professor Meghan Sullivan, has received a $50.8 million grant for work on various moral problems related to artificial intelligence (AI).
The grant is from the Lilly Endowment, a private foundation that supports educational, religious, and community development projects.
It follows a $539,000 planning grant awarded by the foundation to the ECG last year.
Funds will further develop and implement what Sullivan calls the “DELTA” approach to AI:
As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, Christian institutions must look beyond an “ethical floor” of safety, privacy, and transparency. DELTA proposes a deeper, faith-informed approach rooted in enduring Christian values: Dignity, Embodiment, Love, Transcendence, and Agency.
The grant may be the largest single grant awarded for a project led by a philosophy professor.
[archived image unavailable] Meghan SullivanAccording to a press release from Notre Dame, the grant
will fund the further development of a shared, faith-based ethical framework that scholars, religious leaders, tech leaders, teachers, journalists, young people and the broader public can draw upon to discern appropriate uses of artificial intelligence, or AI. The grant will also support the establishment of a robust, interconnected network that will provide practical resources to help navigate challenges posed by rapidly developing AI. Based on principles and values from Christian traditions, the framework is designed to be accessible to people of all faith perspectives.
Notre Dame’s DELTA network will be organized around interdisciplinary and intergenerational communities of practice focused on education, pastoral ministry and public engagement. The communities of practice will come together to learn about and engage with the principles of the faith-based ethical framework. They will nurture relationships between those who are developing AI technology and those in education, workplaces, religious communities and a variety of public settings who must discern ethical ways to use AI.
As part of the project, ECG will launch a series of programs to encourage and support young adults to lead with convictions shaped by DELTA principles. In addition, by developing hubs in communities in Silicon Valley and the Northeastern U.S., the institute will invite tech leaders and the public to engage with DELTA principles through issue-focused events and retreats.
You can learn more about the grant here.
Below is a video of Professor Sullivan speaking at the Notre Dame Summit on the DELTA approach to AI.
