University of Kentucky Employee Wins Religious AI Exemption

David Durman, an administrative employee at the University of Kentucky, no longer has to use artificial intelligence in his job. The university granted him a religious accommodation in September, according to the American Humanist Association, which supported his request. The group believes he is the first humanist to obtain such an AI exemption.

Durman describes himself as a humanist. When the university asked staff to build AI into their daily workflows, he felt he was being told to outsource his thinking to a chatbot, which he saw as a breach of his convictions. In his words, working through situations in his job, his ethics and his dealings with others is essential to becoming a moral person. Handing that work off, whether or not it is tiring, undermines his ability to act morally.

With the association's help, he applied under a federal law that lets employees request changes to job requirements so they can live by their religious beliefs. The university agreed.

A wider debate about outsourcing thought

Durman is not alone in resisting. A newly founded Association for Human Mathematics has called for the discipline to remain in human hands. The move came shortly after OpenAI published 722 papers that prove or disprove mathematical problems on which researchers had previously failed. The group argues that progress in mathematics depends on human expertise built through careful thinking, and that automated production and reception of mathematics erodes the field's intellectual foundations.

Research points to related worries. A study by Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University surveyed 319 people who analyze data or information for work. The more confident users were in the AI's abilities, the more independently they let it operate, which can lead to over-reliance on AI tools without checking the results. The authors suggest that people who lean too heavily on AI could lose the ability to think critically.

Durman also fears broader social harm, saying AI use runs counter to human flourishing. Pope Leo XIV raised similar concerns in an encyclical earlier this year, warning that AI could weaken democracy and human dignity and, if misused, give a small elite additional power while the rest of humanity falls behind.

The case shows that employers pushing AI adoption may face requests for exemptions grounded in belief, not just in practical objections.