Anthropic Says It Met Clergy and Scholars From 15+ Groups to Shape How Claude Handles Moral Questions
AI companies are turning to religion to help teach chatbots right from wrong, per AP. Anthropic says it has met with scholars, clergy, philosophers and ethicists from more than 15 religious and cross-cultural groups to help shape how Claude handles moral questions.
Context
How an AI lab sources the values behind its chatbot shapes the moral answers millions of users get from it.
Anthropic trains Claude against a written set of principles it calls a constitution. The Associated Press reported on Oct 25 that AI companies are turning to religious thinkers for guidance, and unusual_whales shared that report on Saturday evening, where it drew wide attention. Scientific American has reported that about 15 religious thinkers met Anthropic in late March to discuss Claude.
Deep dive
According to the post, which cites the Associated Press, Anthropic says it has met with scholars, clergy, philosophers and ethicists from more than 15 religious and cross cultural groups to help shape how Claude handles moral questions.
The AP report, published on Oct 25, quotes Anthropic cofounder Chris Olah speaking earlier this year at the Vatican presentation of Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on AI: "These are not questions a lab can answer. They are questions traditions like yours have carried for millennia." The AP headline notes that experts say there is more to religion than rules.
Scientific American reports that around 15 religious thinkers met Anthropic in late March. Attendees said the aim was not to make Claude pious but to refine its constitution, the principles the company uses to train the model to critique and revise its own answers. One participant said Anthropic wants to shape a disposition toward good behavior rather than write a rule for every case.
A separate AP report covers a roundtable where tech companies sought guidance from faith leaders on AI. The story is not new this weekend, but the repost drew more than 150,000 views and renewed debate about who decides the values built into chatbots.
What to expect next
Watch whether Anthropic publishes more detail on which groups it consulted and what changed in Claude's constitution as a result. Other labs, including OpenAI, may describe similar outreach. Critics will likely keep asking how labs reconcile conflicting traditions and who is accountable for the final choices. Also watch for regulators or religious bodies responding, especially after the Vatican's recent encyclical on AI.