This special evening, the fifth in Together for the Common Good’s ‘Staying Human’ series, features Matthew Sanders who will examine the impact of the AI and Robotics revolution on work, livelihoods and purpose. Drawing on Catholic Social Teaching and in light of the anniversary of Rerum Novarum, he will explore how to uphold human agency and enhance relationality despite profound change – and how to mitigate the potential for social unrest.
The Staying Human series
The Staying Human series is exploring how to stay human in the emerging new era. Amidst accelerating AI, cultural confusion, fragmentation, the breakdown of trust and extreme inequality, and as concentrations of money and state power intensify, people are sensing increasing pressure. There is growing discontent.
While we recognising the realities before us, Together for the Common Good senses that God is drawing us into a story of renewal and a deeper appreciation of what it means to be human. Serious questions lie before us: How can we restore our common life? How can we stay human? What good are human beings? Are all lives of equal value?
Remembering Together for the Common Good’s friend, the late Frank Field, who embraced difficult questions with courage and honesty, this series is challenging Christians to recognise that how we respond now will shape us for generations to come.
Drawing on Catholic Social Thought and other Christian traditions, earlier speakers, Luke Bretherton, Jon Cruddas, Maurice Glasman, Susannah Black Roberts and Dan Hitchens have responded to these critical questions in brilliant, original ways.
AI, the Future of Work and Christian Discernment
Now we turn to the impact of AI and robotics revolution. Matthew Sanders — founder and CEO of Longbeard and creator of Magisterium AI — draws on Catholic Social Teaching to ask a vital question: What must remain human?
This lecture will examine the impact of AI and Robotics on work, livelihoods, and human purpose. Matthew will address critical questions of discernment – exploring the moral framework required to discern which elements of work can be responsibly outsourced to technology — and which must be retained if human conscience, vocation and mutuality are to be upheld.
In the context of a volatile new era, a gospel-rooted vision is vital if we are to uphold human agency, enhance relationality and mitigate the potential for social unrest.
This lecture, the fifth in Together for the Common Good’s ‘Staying Human’ series, is timed around the anniversary of Rerum Novarum and in anticipation of Pope Leo’s first encyclical.
Matthew has been invited to open up a frank conversation that will enable Christians of all traditions to face the reality of this moment, and equip us for the challenging times ahead.
Matthew Sanders is the founder and CEO of Longbeard, a faith-focused tech firm developing AI tools for the Church’s mission of integral human development and ecological stewardship. Longbeard is home to the specialized AI chatbot Magisterium AI, trained specifically on official Church documents, alongside Vulgate AI for biblical access and Ephrem, the world’s first dedicated Catholic AI. Sanders also founded the Builders AI Forum and has worked as a digital strategist for Catholic nonprofits, creating ethical tech platforms for evangelization, environmental education, and study groups that promote solidarity and challenge technocratic paradigms.
Register to attend
Hosted by Jenny Sinclair, Founder and Director of Together for the Common Good, the event will be held before a live invited audience in London, and broadcast on Riverside, a livestreaming platform. You will be invited to submit questions during the Q & A.
Revd Dr Inderjit Bhogal discusses the many current pressing issues affecting the Church relating to those seeking refuge and asylum.
Challenging Hostility with Hospitality: Sanctuary Sunday is marked at the end of Refugee Week and aims to promote the Church of Sanctuary programme.
Take part in Christian Aid Week and turn one week into lasting change. This year's focus is on urban poverty in Kenya.
Watch again: ‘The Prophetic and the Flag’ webinar explored far-right extremism and Christian nationalism.