# You don’t need to believe in a god to get a religious exemption from using AI at work

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/you-dont-need-to-believe-in-a-god-to-get-a-religious-exemption-from-using-ai-at-work/
- Published: 2026-10-30T01:20:48+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-30T01:33:20+00:00
- Original publisher: TechCrunch
- Original article: https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/29/you-dont-need-to-believe-in-a-god-to-get-a-religious-exemption-from-using-ai-at-work/
- Topics: AI, Americas, Technology, World

## Key points

- A Humanist administrator won an accommodation to avoid workplace AI.
- His case was assessed individually by the University of Kentucky.
- The AHA says non-theistic beliefs may also qualify for protection.

## Summary

David Durman, a nontheistic Humanist and University of Kentucky administrator, has received a workplace accommodation allowing him to abstain from using AI. He argues that relying on AI can weaken people’s capacity for independent moral judgement and critical thought, and says its effects on jobs, the environment and creativity conflict with his beliefs. His case highlights that workplace religious protections can apply to non-theistic convictions as well as conventional faiths.

Durman sought advice from the American Humanist Association after learning that a Unitarian Universalist software engineer had obtained a similar accommodation. The association says he is the first Humanist to secure one and wants others with related concerns to know they may seek protection. The university said it assessed his request individually and found an accommodation compatible with his essential job duties; it may review accommodations as roles and technology change.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.