CBD 2026: Moral Attention in Responsible AI Design with Mark Graves, PhD

Moral attention refers to the ability to focus on the ethical dimension of situations and consider the consequences of one's actions on others and society as a whole. Being mindful of the ethical dimension becomes more difficult and more urgent when using and designing AI systems. Discerning when and how to use AI tools has elevated risks when they directly engage with vulnerable populations, and designing for tightly-coupled human-AI interactions poses new challenges in contemplative design.

Mark Graves, PhD, is Research Director at AI and Faith, a non-profit with the goal of bringing the wisdom of the world's religions to AI ethics conversation. He completed graduate work in computer science and in systematic and philosophical theology and fellowships in genomics, moral psychology, and moral theology. His research focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence, ethics, and theology from computational, psychological, and philosophical perspectives, and he has held teaching or research positions at eight institutions of higher learning with over ninety technical and scholarly publications, including three books. Mark also has 15 years’ experience developing AI and data solutions in biotech, pharmaceutical, and healthcare industries.

This session is part of the FREE Contemplation by Design Summit, Oct. 14-25, 2026.

The full summit schedule for this year will be posted at: https://med.stanford.edu/contemplation/summit.html.