In an era characterised by global conflicts and the urgent need for world peace, promoting peaceful coexistence has become increasingly significant. Rapid advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Transformation are also reshaping communication, governance, education, and social interaction, creating new opportunities and challenges for sustaining peace and democratic values. This study examines how religious beliefs, ethical values, and teachings can be integrated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Transformation to sustain peace and democracy in contemporary society. It adopts an interdisciplinary perspective that connects religious ethics with emerging digital technologies to explore their combined potential for peacebuilding. The study employs a mixed-method approach, using qualitative data sources, including written, electronic, and digital materials, alongside quantitative data sources related to peace, AI, and Digital Transformation. Primary qualitative evidence was also obtained through semi-structured interviews with religious leaders and other stakeholders from different religious and social backgrounds. The collected data were analysed using thematic analysis for qualitative findings and descriptive interpretation for quantitative evidence to identify common patterns related to peacebuilding and technological applications. Key findings indicate that the teachings of major world religions share common principles of peace, compassion, tolerance, justice, and respect for human dignity. The findings further demonstrate that AI-powered technologies—including digital communication platforms, multilingual translation systems, social media, educational applications, and intelligent information systems—can enhance the dissemination of these shared religious values across cultural and national boundaries. However, their effectiveness depends upon ethical design, responsible governance, and appropriate human oversight to prevent misinformation, hate speech, algorithmic bias, and religious discrimination. The study argues that religious values provide an important ethical foundation for the responsible development and application of AI, while AI and Digital Transformation offer practical mechanisms for extending the global reach of peace-oriented religious teachings. Religious leaders and experts concur on the need for a universal communication medium and international collaboration to promote peace worldwide, and AI, together with Digital Transformation, provides a direct means of advancing this objective. In conclusion, AI and Digital Transformation have considerable potential to disseminate universal values of peace, tolerance, justice, and mutual respect beyond geographical and cultural boundaries. Guided by shared religious and ethical principles, these technologies can contribute meaningfully to sustainable peace, democratic participation, intercultural dialogue, and long-term global development.
Rev. Bingiriye Sunandabodhi (Tue,) studied this question.