Rooted Lecture November 11: Hope in the Age of AI.

The evening starts with an optional shared dinner at 18:30 hrs. The lecture starts at 20:00, and after a short break the floor opens for questions and debate. Karel loves to be challenged, so come ready to push back. We end with drinks and snacks.

Responsibility as a Firm Foundation for Society

Artificial intelligence promises a lot, but it also asks a lot of us. Behind the polished apps are hidden costs: content moderators in the Global South who are worn down by the material they clean up for us, and power that gathers in the hands of a few tech companies. It’s easy to give up hope.

In this lecture, Karel J. van der Lelij looks at the moral and ethical questions AI raises, and the deeper existential ones too: what it means to be human, who is responsible, and what kind of society we want to build. Drawing on Christian thinking, he argues that the future isn’t decided only by a handful of technologists. It depends on all of us, and on God.