I am delighted to announce that from March 1, 2025, I will be supported as a member of the "Junges Kolleg" (Young Academy) at the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BAdW) (details here). Founded in 1759, the BAdW is the largest and one of the most distinguished state academies in Germany, dedicated to fostering cutting-edge research and interdisciplinary dialogue. Through its research activities, especially in foundational research, and its engagement at the intersection of science and society, it significantly enhances the academic landscape in Bavaria.
The Young Academy was established in 2010 specifically to promote outstanding early-career researchers. It typically consists of 18 postdoctoral researchers from diverse fields. Bavaria hosts thousands of postdocs at some of Europe's leading research institutions, making the selection process for this program highly competitive. This year, following a rigorous multi-stage selection procedure, five new members from different disciplines were accepted, two of whom, including myself, are from LMU Munich. Given the high standards of this selection process, I feel particularly honoured by this fellowship—especially as I am the first theologian ever admitted since the program’s inception. I am excited to contribute this unique perspective to the interdisciplinary exchange, notably in the working group on Artificial Intelligence.
The fellowship specifically supports my research project titled “Theology between Scripture and AI-Generated Texts.” My research investigates how AI technologies, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT, are transforming our approach to interpreting religious texts like the Bible. I see significant challenges emerging for theology, challenges that must be addressed thoughtfully and self-critically. Given the growing impact of these technologies, I anticipate that my findings will offer meaningful insights for other areas within and outside of academy—everywhere, where human and machine text production increasingly come into competition. For example, the implications for the realm of literature (to say nothing of literary translation!) are profound. By addressing the existential challenge of being text-based and potentially drowned out by the flood of AI-generated texts, theology can, in my view, offer valuable contributions to a constructive dialogue on the importance of culture and the conditions necessary for sustaining it in our societies.
At the same time, I will explicitly explore the reverse perspective too, namely what contributions theology itself can make to the societal and academic discourse surrounding AI. I see clear opportunities here where theology should not remain silent—particularly given the often uncritical use of religious terminology in AI development, which frquently comes along with a worldview that can have profound implications for humanity’s future. It is crucial, therefore, that we draw on theological experience—even if sometimes only to remind ourselves of how religious categories have historically been misused to exert power.
This fellowship not only represents meaningful recognition of my previous academic work but also provides unique opportunities for exchange with outstanding colleagues from a wide range of disciplines. I am thus particularly grateful for this new institutional anchoring of the part of my research that deals with AI.
For more information about the Junges Kolleg and the BAdW’s activities, please visit: Junges Kolleg (Young Academy).
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