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NewsMission LocalOctober 30, 2026San Francisco County

San Francisco religious leaders hold closed-door meeting to address artificial intelligence and personhood

Photo: Mission Local

San Francisco religious leaders convened behind closed doors at the University of San Francisco to discuss artificial intelligence, human personhood, and upcoming engagement with tech companies like Anthropic. The private meeting brought together clergy from Catholic, Baptist, Orthodox, Episcopal, Reform Jewish, and Muslim communities to set the stage for a broader citywide faith convening. Discussions also touched on practical challenges facing local congregations, including clergy and congregants using chatbots to write sermons or seek spiritual guidance.

Artificial IntelligenceReligionTechnology EthicsCommunity
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Why It Matters

Local faith communities are establishing direct communication channels with major artificial intelligence developers headquartered in the region to address labor exploitation, human agency, and spiritual guidance.

Key Facts

  • Leading San Francisco pastors, rabbis, and ministers held a closed-door meeting at the University of San Francisco to discuss artificial intelligence.
  • Clergy participants included representatives from Catholic, Baptist, Orthodox, Episcopal, Reform Jewish, and Muslim communities.
  • The gathering was organized by Michael Pappas, executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Council, to prepare for a larger citywide faith convening.
  • The meeting lasted three hours and was closed to the media.
  • Participants discussed questions of human personhood, labor exploitation, and artificial intelligence achieving consciousness.
  • The pastoral working group expects to hold future meetings directly with developers from the AI company Anthropic.
  • Some local clergy and congregants have already begun using chatbots to write sermons or seek spiritual guidance.
  • Attendees and local faith leaders cited Pope Leo's recent encyclical on AI as an impetus for organizing discussions on the technology.

Who's Mentioned

PersonSam Tygiel“Assistant Rabbi at Congregation Sherith Israel”OrganizationOld First Presbyterian Church“Church where Michael Pappas delivered a sermon on AI ethics”OrganizationAnthropic“AI company that reached out to invite a pastoral working group to meet”PersonBrandon Pho“Author of the news article”PersonDevon Jerome Crawford“Rev. at Third Baptist Church”OrganizationUniversity of San Francisco“Jesuit-run university that hosted the clergy meeting”PersonMychal Copeland“Rabbi at Sha’ar Zahav”PersonMichael Pappas“Greek Orthodox priest and executive director of the San Francisco Interfaith Cou”PersonPope Leo“Released an encyclical on AI warning against a purely technical form of salvatio”PersonGerasimos“Metropolitan of the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of San Francisco”PersonSalvatore Cordileone“Archbishop of the San Francisco Archdiocese”PersonSarah Joselow Parris“Rabbi at Congregation Emanu-El”PersonVictor Floyd“Rev. at Calvary Presbyterian Church”OrganizationMission Local“News outlet reporting on the meeting”PersonPeter Levenstrong“Priest at St. Gregory of Nyssa Episcopal Church”