University of Kentucky Grants Humanist Exemption From Workplace AI

Summary

As of October 30, 2026, University of Kentucky administrator David Durman is the first Humanist to secure a workplace religious accommodation allowing him to abstain from AI use, and among the first people to discuss the process publicly. Durman, who supports researchers applying for grants, is not required to use AI, but acted after colleagues and leaders recommended it, fearing advice could become a mandate. Unitarian Universalist software engineer Erin Maus, whose similar accommodation inspired Durman, faces an especially unusual position because coding without AI assistance has become rare.

Durman says Humanism grounds morality in human flourishing and the active use of the mind. In an American Humanist Association statement published that week, he argued AI weakens critical thinking, displaces livelihoods, imposes environmental costs, and supplants or takes human creativity. Association attorney Alexandria Huiskens said workplace protections can cover nontheistic beliefs, while Pope Leo XIV has separately called AI a threat to human dignity. University spokesperson Jay Blanton said Durman can perform his essential duties under the individualized accommodation, which may be reviewed as technology and job responsibilities evolve.