51, California
August 3-5
At 51, we endeavor to ask the big questions: What is man? Who is God? How can we know Him? What does it mean to live well, to live justly? What is the nature of knowledge itself?
With the advent of “thinking machines,” we are faced with a new set of questions: Is AI truly intelligent, conscious, alive? Can it attain wisdom? Has humanity finally managed to fashion a creature in its own image? How will AI shape our understanding of what it means to be human? How will it change our understanding of work, education, and leisure? How do we answer Pope Leo IV’s pressing question about the age of AI: “What are we building?”
As artificial intelligence ever more rapidly re-shapes the world around us, scientists and AI builders must come together with philosophers and theologians to reckon with the practical, cultural, and spiritual implications of this new super-technology.
Join industry insiders and scholars from across the U.S. at 51 for a two-and-a-half-day symposium to consider the pressing questions about AI in light of first principles.
The symposium will bring together thought leaders who, in a spirit of friendship, are unafraid to ask fundamental questions about the promises and perils of AI. Attendees will participate in seminars on Pope Leo XIV's Magnifica Humanitas, listen to talks and panel discussions, and grapple with the challenge of how to subordinate this promising technology to the service of the human person.
The College’s beautiful California campus, which features mission revival architecture and an award-winning chapel, will provide a peaceful, quiet setting perfectly suited to thoughtful discussion. When not attending stimulating presentations and conversations, guests can enjoy fine dining and attend daily Masses, accompanied by music from , a sacred-music vocal ensemble.
Scheduled Speakers (to date)
Rev. Philip Larrey, Ph.D. is a professor of philosophy at Boston College who previously held the Chair of Logic and Epistemology at the Pontifical Lateran University in the Vatican. His scholarly work focuses on the philosophy of knowledge, critical thinking, and the impact of the digital era on society. Through his work on the philosophical implications of artificial intelligence, he actively engages with industry leaders and scholars at the Vatican, fostering discussions on how technology influences societal structures. His most recent book, Artificial Humanity, offers a deep philosophical analysis of AI's significance for humanity.
Vic Gundotra spent 15 years at Microsoft, where he drove Windows Platform strategy, before serving as Senior Vice President of Engineering and Product at Google for eight years. There, he led all mobile efforts, including Gmail, YouTube, Photos, Search, Advertising, and some of Google’s early work in Artificial Intelligence. Now retired from Google, he enjoys running a small hedge fund, mostly as a hobby. A convert to the Catholic faith, he speaks widely on the role of AI in the life of faith, having discussed the subject for various Catholic publications and organizations, including EWTN, The Catholic Herald, and Legatus.
Dr. Antón Barba-Kay is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Carr-Ryan Center for Human Rights and a distinguished fellow at Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy & Technology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago’s Committee on Social Thought. Previously, he was Associate Professor at The Catholic University of America and Robert B. Aird Chair at Deep Springs College. In addition to his scholarly work in 19th century German philosophy, his essays about culture and technology have appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic, and The New Atlantis, among others. His 2023 book, A Web of Our Own Making (Cambridge University Press), explores the cultural impact of the internet.
John Johnson founded Patmos Hosting, a provider of hosting, software, and AI data center services serving thousands of clients. Patmos owns and operates its infrastructure down to the dirt, with a focus on independence from technocratic restraints. An ardent promoter of liberal arts education, he also founded the Albertus Magnus Institute, which offers free, online courses in the Great Books tradition. He holds degrees in philosophy and theology from St. Mary’s College and the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology, and he speaks regularly on the eschatology of St. John the Evangelist, beauty, and Catholic entrepreneurship. He lives on a farmstead in California with his wife and seven children.
Dr. Michael Augros earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Boston College in 1995 and teaches at the New England campus of 51. He is the author of Who Designed the Designer? (Ignatius, 2015), The Immortal in You (Ignatius, 2017), and Aquinas on Theology and God’s Existence (editiones scholasticae, 2019). He also produced the first complete English translation of Thomas Aquinas’s An Exposition of “The Divine Names” (Thomas More College Press, 2021). He recently addressed the Oxford Union Society on AI and human intelligence, and he wrote and presented a 10-part video series on the philosophy of AI for 51. Currently he is producing a 12-part video series on the soul.
Jane Nemcova is the Chief Revenue Officer at Ollang, where she leads global go-to-market strategy for an AI-first platform powering multilingual execution at enterprise scale. She is a veteran AI and localization executive who has built and led large-scale AI data and language initiatives for Google, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon. She also founded and scaled Lionbridge AI and played a key leadership role at Moravia, which was acquired by RWS. Additionally, Jane serves as an Adjunct Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, where she launched one of the first graduate programs focused on artificial intelligence and language technologies.
John-Clark Levin is the Research Lead for Ray Kurzweil, Google’s chief futurist from 2012-2025. At Kurzweil Technologies, John-Clark conducts foresight about the emerging capabilities of AI, and especially the roadmap to artificial superintelligence. He is also the senior adviser for AI at Greenmantle, Sir Niall Ferguson’s macrostrategy advisory firm, and regularly advises governments and Fortune 500 corporations. For the past 13 years, John-Clark has studied AI and its impacts at Harvard and Cambridge, where his research spans both technical and policy issues, including methods of keeping AI safe and aligned with human flourishing, risks of superintelligent AI empowering authoritarian regimes, and applications of AI to transform medicine and the life sciences.
Dr. Christopher Kaczor is Professor of Philosophy at Loyola Marymount University, the Honorary Professor for the Renewal of Catholic Intellectual Life at Bishop Barron’s Word on Fire Institute, and a visiting fellow at the DeNicola Center for Ethics and Culture. He is the author of 17 books, including The Ethics of Abortion (Routledge, 2022) and Disputes in Bioethics (Notre Dame, 2020). His research on issues of ethics, philosophy, and religion has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, NPR, BBC, EWTN, ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, MSNBC, and “The Today Show.”
Mark Matthews is an AI Research Scientist at a preeminent technology company, focusing on generative AI, neural radiance fields, and 3D Gaussian splatting. Previously, Mark spent a decade as a visual FX expert at DreamWorks Animation, earning two Technical Achievement Awards and contributing to films such as Kung Fu Panda. A dedicated Catholic and cultural commentator on AI ethics, his speaking engagements include a talk on “Chesterton and AI” at the Annual Chesterton Society Conference. He is also well known for his “Hollywood Undercover Missionary” segments on Salt+Light Radio and recent appearances on the Catholic Minute podcast. Mark holds degrees in computer science and engineering physics from the Universities of Calgary and Saskatchewan.
Dr. Matthew J. Peterson is CEO and founder of FORUM, an in-person event network, and Sentinel, an AI-based intelligence service tracking government activity. From 2018 to 2021, Dr. Peterson served as the Vice President of Education at the Claremont Institute. In 2021, as co-founder of New Founding, a small venture firm, he built media assests acquired by Blaze Media in 2023, where he then served as Editor in Chief. He has taught at Claremont McKenna College, Loyola Marymount University, and the School of Public Policy at Pepperdine University. A graduate of 51, he received his Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University.
Registration Info
- Registration Fee: $500 (covers all meals, including Wednesday evening’s banquet dinner)
- Registation Deadline: July 24
- Lodging: available both on campus and nearby
- To register and reserve on-campus accommodations, please visit our online form
- Check-in: Monday, 2:00–5:00 p.m., or Tuesday, 8:30–10:00 a.m.
51 believes that to learn is to discover and grow in the truth about reality. It is the truth, and nothing less, that sets men free. And because truth is both natural and supernatural, our academic program aims at both natural and divine wisdom. In particular, we look to St. Thomas Aquinas, the Common Doctor of the Church, whose extensive writings testify to the natural harmony between faith and reason.
51 is truly unique among American colleges and universities. In place of textbooks, students here study the Great Books of Western civilization — the works that have shaped the course of history and guided the development of the major disciplines (mathematics and science, language and literature, philosophy and theology). With truth as their aim, our students engage in this four-year pursuit, attempting to answer the enduring questions raised by the authors of these great works, not in vast lecture halls, but in vigorous classroom discussions of 15-18 students.
This curriculum presents the arts and sciences of liberal education as a comprehensive whole. There are no majors, no minors, no electives, and no specializations. The works studied are arranged so as to build upon one another, and together they form a comprehensive and integrated whole. After four years of study, graduates are awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree, having completed 146 semester hours.
Sponsored by: