The University of Notre Dame has been awarded a $50.8 million grant from Lilly Endowment to support the DELTA Network: Faith-Based Ethical Formation for a World of Powerful AI.
Led by the Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good, the grant will fund the development of a shared, faith-based ethical framework. Scholars, religious leaders, tech leaders, teachers, journalists, young people and the broader public can draw upon the framework to discern appropriate uses of artificial intelligence, or AI.
The grant will also support the establishment of an 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.
“We are deeply grateful to Lilly Endowment for its generous support of this critically important initiative,” Notre Dame President Rev. Robert Dowd said in a press release. “As a Catholic university that seeks to promote human flourishing, Notre Dame is well-positioned to build bridges between religious leaders and educators, and those creating and using new technologies, so that they might together explore the moral and ethical questions associated with AI.”
ECG spent the past year mapping the landscape of faith-informed work in AI ethics. It created DELTA, a Christian-inspired ethical framework that stands for Dignity, Embodiment, Love, Transcendence and Agency.
“Lilly Endowment’s continued support enables Notre Dame to address one of the defining questions of our time — how to guide the use of artificial intelligence with wisdom, responsibility and a commitment to human dignity,” John McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer provost, said.
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 will come together engage with the principles of the 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.
“With this work, Notre Dame and ECG will deepen our mission to grow networks of corporate leaders, faith leaders, educators, storytellers and others to advance ethics and the common good,” Meghan Sullivan, ECG director, said. “Given the monumental impact that AI will have on our lives, this work is more vital than ever.”
