by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News) – Overtly hostile to Christianity, authoritarian regimes like China’s ruling communist party can use artificial intelligence (AI) technology to monitor and oppress believers in Christ, the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has warned.
During a recent interview with the Premier Christianity news outlet about the use of AI for persecution, USCIRF chair Professor Stephen Schneck said: “Some of these new technologies used by countries like Iran and China, create brand new ways for the repression of religion or the control of religion around the world. So it’s a very concerning development and something that we want to keep an eye on.”
Schneck made his remarks ahead of the annual International Ministerial Conference on Freedom of Religion or Belief held in Berlin last week, which focused on the abuse of AI. “New technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and social media play an important role,” the Conference website explains. “The task of our time is to harness the potential of these technologies to promote peace and diversity while taking decisive action against their misuse. To this end, a deeper understanding of the links between today’s AI revolution and freedom of religion or belief is essential.”
Concerning China’s ongoing suppression of Christian expression, Schneck told Premier Christianity: “In China, facial recognition techniques allow the Chinese Communist Party to monitor those who attend religious ceremonies, and so it enables them to track them and to repress them at a level that wasn’t available to them before. And similar technologies are available around the world.
“The truth is that authoritarian governments don’t want their citizens to have appeal to any source of right or truth or authority outside the state or outside the party, Schneck added. “And so religion, fundamentally, is an inherent challenge to authoritarian regimes.”
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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