University of Kentucky employee granted religious exemption from AI

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With the help of the American Humanist Association, he asked for an accommodation under Title VII, a federal law that allows employees to ask for a change in their work requirements to comply with religious belief.

In September, the university agreed and granted him a religious accommodation, meaning he does not have to use AI to complete his work.

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David Durman, an administrator at the University of Kentucky, said using AI would cause him to offload his thinking and decision making, which would violate his humanist views. He hopes other Americans will rethink their views on AI, too.

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As a humanist, David Durman believes in the importance of the human part of life. That means making his own decisions and making sure his work helps people flourish.

When the University of Kentucky, where the 45-year-old works as a research administrator, started asking employees to use AI in their workflow, he got worried. Durman felt he was being asked to offload his thinking to tools like Microsoft Teams Copilot, Claude and ChatGPT bots in his day-to-day work.

That felt like a violation of his beliefs, he said.

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