A Humanist Just Won the Right to Refuse AI at Work
A Humanist Just Won the Right to Refuse AI at Work
David Durman, a University of Kentucky administrator, has secured a religious accommodation allowing him to abstain from using artificial intelligence at work — an unusual result that puts secular Humanist objections to AI alongside more familiar faith-based claims.
Durman began exploring his options as AI tools became increasingly common in professional life. He turned to the American Humanist Association after concluding that the technology conflicted with his nontheistic moral framework. Humanism, he said, is concerned with “human well-being and flourishing, both individually and collectively.”
His objection is not merely to a new office tool. Durman argues that moral responsibility depends on people actively using their own minds, and that excessive AI reliance could erode critical thinking. In an AHA statement, he also cited threats to jobs, environmental costs and what he called the “supplanting and theft of human creativity” in art and literature.
The case gained momentum after Durman learned that Erin Maus, a Unitarian Universalist software engineer, had obtained comparable protections. The AHA’s Alexandria Huiskens said concerns about AI and human dignity can run through Catholicism, Universalism and Humanism alike — and that nontheists, too, are protected at work.
For now, Durman’s job supporting researchers with grant applications does not require AI. But he sought the exemption before recommendations to try the technology hardened into a mandate. The university said it assessed the request individually and found an accommodation could be made without preventing him from performing his essential duties; it added that arrangements may be revisited as technology and responsibilities change.
Durman says he is not trying to dictate anyone else’s choices. Still, he hopes workers with similar misgivings will seek a resolution before opting out becomes harder.
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