Theos at 20

In a world increasingly impacted by AI, does the definition of humanity need to be rethought? How is human capacity to create art impacted by technological advancement, and what do we lose or gain by such advancements?

Using the National Gallery’s collection as a departure point, this event asks the question: What does it mean to be human in the age of AI? Our panel will explore how acts of creativity and the emotions attributed to them shape our shared human experience.

This event is part of a year-long 20th anniversary programme of events by the Christian think tank Theos. It asks how faith, values and moral reasoning can contribute to a more humane, trustworthy and hopeful public life in the decades to come.

Since its founding in 2006, Theos has shaped public debate on religion and society, working to deepen public understanding of how faith shapes our common life: through research, public engagement and convening thoughtful conversation across difference.

Speakers include Ayla Lepine, Chine McDonald, Nathan Mladin, Marcus du Sautoy and Rowan Williams.

Revd Dr Ayla Lepine is an art historian and theologian. She is the Associate Rector at St James’s, Piccadilly in London. Her PhD at the Courtauld Institute of Art focused on the Gothic Revival and medievalism in modern Britain. She has held Fellowships at Yale’s Institute of Sacred Music, the University of Essex, and the National Gallery. She publishes and lectures widely, particularly on the intersections of social justice and modern visual culture. Her book ‘Women, Art, God’ will be published with SCM Press later this year.

Chine McDonald is a writer, broadcaster and director of the religion and society think tank, Theos. She is the author of 'God Is Not a White Man: And Other Revelations' (Hodder & Stoughton, 2021) and 'Unmaking Mary: Shattering the Myth of Perfect Motherhood'. She is vice-chair of Greenbelt Festival, and a trustee of Christian Aid. Chine studied Theology and Religious Studies at Cambridge University, and is a Canon Theologian at Chester Cathedral.

Dr Nathan Mladin is a Senior Researcher at the Christian think tank Theos in London, an Associate of the UK’s AI, Faith and Civil Society Commission and the co-founder of Faithbase, a community and resource hub for Christian technologists (Romania). His research, speaking and writing focus on the ethics of technology, AI, faith and economics and theology of culture more generally. He is the author of several publications, including 'AI and the Afterlife: From Digital Mourning to Mind Uploading' (Theos, 2024) and 'Data and Dignity: Why Privacy Matters in the Digital Age' (Theos, 2022).

Marcus du Sautoy is Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. In 2008 he was appointed to the university’s prestigious professorship as the Simonyi Chair for the Public Understanding of Science, a post previously held by Richard Dawkins. He works extensively with a range of arts organisations bringing science alive for the public, from the Royal Opera House and Glastonbury Festival to Complicité theatre company. His many books dive deep into the world of machines and creativity, including 'Thinking Better: The Art of the Shortcut’, and ‘The Creativity Code’.

Rowan Williams is a former Archbishop of Canterbury and was until 2020 Master of Magdalene College at the University of Cambridge. He is the author of many books, including ‘Looking East in Winter’, ‘Holy Living’, and ‘The Edge of Words’, published by Bloomsbury Continuum. He lives in Cardiff and continues to broadcast, preach and lecture internationally. In 2022, he gave the second of the BBC’s centenary Reith Lectures. He is contributing writer to The New Statesman.