International Conference on Humanity and Spirituality in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution

Oikotree, Andong City Council and Gyeongan Theological Graduate University

The Oikotree, the Andong City Council and  Gyeongan Theological University jointly organised an ‘International Conference on  Humanity and Spirituality in the context  of the 4th Industrial Revolution’ at Gyeongan Theological Graduate University, Andong, South Korea, from 20 to 24 Nov. 2017. Academicians, theologians, activists, policy makers and developmental workers from South Africa, Tanzania, Canada, India, Germany,  Indonesia, Cuba, Rwanda, Jamaica, South Korea, United States of America and Zambia participated in the conference.

The conference dealt with four sub-themes: The 4th Industrial Revolution’s impact on humanity and spirituality, Humanity and Spirituality in the face of the 4th Industrial Revolution, Humanity and Spirituality from traditional perspective around the world and Creative Alternatives to the impact of the 4th Industrial Revolution. The conference began with a creative worship by the faculty of Gyeongan Theological Graduate University. A CEO of one of the leading companies working on the products related to the 4th Industrial Revolution and producing the Artificial Intelligence chips for the robots and cars, presented a paper.

He said, “God has anointed us as co-creators so, it is our duty to be creators of the new technologies as representatives of God”. Meaningful theological and ethical conversations based on the theme and its challenges and prospects, were held. The Mayor of Andong City informed that, the Andong city is already in the process of implementing the 4th Industrial Revolution and he requested the participants to make suggestions to implement it with human concerns. There were eighteen presentations from different contextual perspectives on several issues such as ‘Robotization, Employment,

Artificial Intelligence, Human Security, Privacy and Relationships. It was suggested that the theological fraternity should come up with the codes of conduct, And dialogues between the religious leaders and scientists should be held. Also it was suggested to promote conversations among the younger generations in order to humanise the revolution. The Oikotree Facilitating Group decided to work vigorously in connecting people’s groups and movements around the globe in expressing their solidarity though their participation and accompaniment.

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