As concerns mount over artificial intelligence and its rapid integration into society, tech companies are increasingly turning to faith leaders for guidance on how to shape the technology — a surprising about-face on Silicon Valley's long-standing scepticism of organised religion.

Leaders from various religious groups met last week with representatives from companies, including Anthropic and OpenAI, for the inaugural ‘Faith-AI Covenant’ roundtable discussion in New York to discuss how best to infuse morality and ethics into the fast-developing technology. It was organised by the Geneva-based Interfaith Alliance for Safer Communities, which seeks to take on issues such as extremism, radicalisation and human trafficking. The roundtable is expected to be the first of several around the globe, including in Beijing, Nairobi and Abu Dhabi.

Tech executives need to recognise their power — and their responsibility — to make the right decisions, said Baroness Joanna Shields, a key partner in the initiative. She worked as a tech executive with stints at Google and Facebook before pivoting to British politics.