International experts convene at AUS to discuss AI, ethics and the digital age

The Center for Arabic Studies and Islamic Civilizations (CASIC) at American University of Sharjah (AUS) hosted the inaugural Humanities, AI and the Digital Age Conference from May 1 to 3, 2025. The event brought together leading scholars from around the world to explore how the humanities—particularly philosophy, theology and ethics—can offer meaningful frameworks for understanding and responding to the profound technological changes shaping contemporary society.

The conference, held at the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS), focused on the ways artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technologies are transforming scholarship, pedagogy, translation and cultural representation, particularly within the Arab and Islamic worlds. It aimed to foster critical reflection on the cultural, social and ethical implications of human-technology interactions and to promote deeper public and academic engagement with the challenges and opportunities posed by AI.

Through a series of excellent papers and interdisciplinary sessions, the conference covered a wide range of topics including transhumanism and issues of consciousness and moral responsibility; language-based inequalities in today’s digital landscape, where English dominates the majority of online content; the use of AI tools in generating everything from media content to children’s stories; and the intersection of Islam and emerging technologies such as nanotechnology. 

Dr. Nuha AlShaar, Head of CASIC at AUS, said: “This conference reflected the urgent need to bring the humanities into ongoing conversations about artificial intelligence. At AUS, we are proud to contribute to a regional and global dialogue on how philosophical, ethical and cultural traditions can guide our engagement with technology and provide tools to ensure that today’s innovations remain grounded in the common good. These multidisciplinary conversations are also pertinent for UAE and Arab and Islamic societies to engage creatively with modern and technological advancement while still preserving their cultural authenticity.” 

The conference also provided a space for innovative, cross-disciplinary collaborations to emerge, encouraging dialogue between scholars of philosophy, politics, ethics and theology, media, and technology that may lead to future research partnerships and joint initiatives.

International speakers included Dr. Paolo Dario, Professor of Biomedical Robotics and Director of the BioRobotics Institute at the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Italy, currently a visiting researcher at Khalifa University; Dr. Annouchka Bayley, Associate Professor and Chair of the Arts and Creativities Research Group in the Faculty of Education at the University of Cambridge; Dr. Hureyre Kam, Professor at the Institute for Islamic Theology and Religious Education at the University of Innsbruck; Dr. Mohammed Ghaly, Professor of Islam and Biomedical Ethics at the Research Center for Islamic Legislation and Ethics at Hamad Bin Khalifa University; and Dr. Khaled Al-Kassim, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the American University in the Emirates. 

CASIC aspires to become a regional leader in examining the intersection of Arab-Islamic heritage and contemporary global issues. In collaboration with the Department of Arabic and Translation Studies, CASIC has contributed to organizing several thought-provoking events, most recently bringing together international scholars for conferences such as Islam in the Modern World: Dialogues on Faith, Culture and Society and Hyperlocal to Global: Cultural Hybridity and Translation in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. 

For more about the AUS Department of Arabic and Translation Studies, please visit: www.aus.edu/cas/department-of-arabic-and-translation-studies