Believing in AI?

Wolfgang Palaver is Professor Emeritus of Catholic Social Thought at the University of Innsbruck, where he served as Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology from 2013 to 2017. Born in the Tyrol and trained in Innsbruck in theology, German studies, and political science, he has spent his career at the intersection of religion, politics, and violence. He continues to teach Catholic Social Thought at the Philosophical-Theological College of Brixen / Bressanone.

He is among the foremost interpreters of René Girard’s mimetic theory. His René Girard’s Mimetic Theory (2013) is widely regarded as the standard introduction to Girard’s thought, and he has helped shape the wider field as co-editor of The Palgrave Handbook of Mimetic Theory and Religion and Mimetic Theory and World Religions. From 2007 to 2011 he was president of the Colloquium on Violence and Religion, becoming an honorary member of its board in 2016.

Alongside Girard, his work engages Thomas Hobbes, Carl Schmitt, and Simone Weil. Especially in recent years, he has become a sought-after lecturer, speaking widely on religion, violence, and the search for peace.

Lauren Goode is a senior correspondent at WIRED, covering Big Technology companies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, the flow of capital, and Silicon Valley culture. She also cowrites the weekly newsletter Backchannel. Previously she worked at The Verge, Recode, and The Wall Street Journal. She lives in San Francisco.