The Right to Refuse AI: When Thinking for Yourself Is a Religious Belief

A University of Kentucky employee asked to be excused from using artificial intelligence at work. He said it violated his beliefs as a humanist. The university granted him a religious accommodation.

It’s a case where the process worked. But it opens up harder questions: Who decides whether a belief counts as religious? How does a court or employer determine if someone sincerely holds it? And what happens to everyone else?

RNS reporter Bob Smietana joins Amanda Henderson to explore what this case reveals about religious freedom, the right to refuse AI, and the broad ecosystem of policy and proceedure of making room for conscience at work.

Read Bob’s reporting: “A Kentucky man becomes the first humanist granted religious exemption from AI.”

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