Latest news with #AnnaRobbins
CBC
24-07-2025
- CBC
A divinity school steeped in history tests the boundaries of artificial intelligence
So astonishing was the resemblance, in both voice and appearance, that college president Anna Robbins's own family couldn't tell the difference between herself and the on-screen avatar generated by artificial intelligence to deliver lectures to six graduate students. It was an illuminating and, undoubtedly to some in the broader university world, unnerving experiment in education, one that took place last fall at Acadia Divinity College, a small school steeped in Baptist history in rural Nova Scotia. A course whose syllabus was generated by AI, whose lectures were scripted and conducted online by AI, and where students were graded by AI for real marks. A course with an especially germane topic: the ethics of artificial intelligence in Christian ministry. "What blew our minds was realizing that I can speak 80 languages," Robbins said in a recent interview at the school in Wolfville, N.S. At first blush, the college of about 200 mostly graduate students would seem a curious place for such a plunge into the world of artificial intelligence. But it reflects not just a changing education landscape, but an energetic discussion in Christian circles about the technology. Like so many other facets of online life, AI has been inserted into religion. Christian chatbots answer theological questions, and apps help priests write sermons (or simply write the sermons for them). A church in Switzerland installed an AI Jesus avatar on a screen in a confessional booth. There's also plenty of worry, such as how artificial intelligence will be used in war or for selfish gain. Pope Leo XIV has called AI an "exceptional product of human genius," but warned it could harm humanity's "openness to truth and beauty" and "ability to grasp and process reality." The premise at Acadia Divinity was this: only by testing the limits of something that has so much promise, and likewise generates so much uneasiness, can you begin to understand its potential, and its pitfalls, and figure out what to do about it all. Future pastors at the college learn to counsel parishioners using an AI program that mimics real people with real problems, and students have online chats with historical Christian figures. The entirely AI-generated course last fall was simply an experiment, according to Robbins. It's not about replacing professors, she said, but examining ways that AI can help. An AI program was fed reams of information about the school, including its history and teaching style. The six students who took part were volunteers and their tuition for the course was covered by the college. Rev. John Campbell, the college's director of technology for education, and Jodi Porter, the school's director of education for ministry innovation, gave a keynote address in December at an Atlantic universities teaching conference about using AI in the classroom. "One professor, of course, really didn't like the idea of an AI marking the assignments," Campbell said. "Well, you know, a first-year English professor put up her hand and said, 'I have 300 students and I would love to have some sort of tool to help give some sort of personalized feedback to these students.'" Joel Murphy, a "futurist" at Acadia Divinity who researches trends, said he believes AI will have a greater impact than the internet, and the implications for faith are profound, with people creating a "self-curated spirituality." There are benefits to self-curation, he said. But the danger, he said, is that so much is left to a person's own whims, with AI tuned to give us what we want, not push back or question. "I think it's going to create isolation, further isolation," he said. "At the centre, I think, of most faith movements is community, belonging, relationship — that can be lost in this self-curated experience." Robbins said she shares the same concerns. But she said she believes the church has a unique place in "what has become a very artificial world," a hub for people when they finally step away from their phones and their "existential questions come crashing in." The work at Acadia Divinity is also a matter of preparing pastors for a new world. For instance, how to talk about grief to a parishioner who is frantically uploading every video they have of a terminally ill loved one so they can converse with an AI avatar after they die. "This is not science fiction, this is happening now," Campbell said. "That's always the dangerous side, and so some of what we're doing is to help people understand what's there and to prepare them to be able to function and minister in the midst of that." But from the point of view of education, Acadia Divinity professors see some clear advantages. Glen Berry, the chair of pastoral psychology, deploys an AI program so students can practise counselling skills in life-like conversations. In his view, it beats pairing up students and getting one to act the part of a troubled parishioner seeking help. There's numerous scenarios: a grieving widower, a medical student with obsessive-compulsive disorder, a burnt-out pastor, or people who are quick to anger and take offence, sound worried or upset. At the end, it spits out a transcript Berry can review. Melody Maxwell, an associate professor of Christian history, last term used an AI chatbot that allows students to ask questions of historical Christian figures. It helps build "historical empathy," an understanding of the feelings and motivations of people in the context of their time periods. With a couple of clicks of a computer mouse, Robbins's AI-generated avatar can switch between 80 different languages, some quite convincingly. "We're concerned about equipping the church globally, not for our own strengthening, but for the strengthening of the church worldwide," Robbins said. "It would be amazing if we could offer theological education to the 90 per cent of pastors in the developing world, for example, who have no access to theological education. Suddenly there's an opportunity to serve." As for the AI-generated course last fall, the reviews were mixed. The students agreed the "learning outcomes" were met, and they liked the near-instantaneous feedback.
Telegraph
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
What do you bid for Lady Mary's wedding dress? A first look at the great Downton auction
It's an uncanny experience to see a familiar costume from a beloved story on a mannequin, rather than its original wearer. It feels as though the character – or the actor who played them – is somehow present, or as if you have stumbled into a scene from a set so recognisable you feel you could find your way around it. Such is the case for anyone viewing the costumes of Downton Abbey, one of the most popular and critically acclaimed programmes in the history of British television (the series ran for six seasons) and the subject of an upcoming auction at Bonhams. Running online from 18 August to 16 September with an accompanying exhibition, the farewell auction will end as the third and final Downton film opens in cinemas. Will you bid? Downton Abbey: The Auction will feature 120 props, pieces of furniture and, most excitingly, costumes, meaning that fans will be able to bid on everything from the iconic Downton butler bell (estimated at £5,000-7,000) and Grantham family car (£25,000-35,000) to Lady Mary's wedding dress (£3,000-5,000) and some of the late Dame Maggie Smith's most memorable outfits from her unforgettable turn as Violet Crawley (£2,000-3,000). Known for their extraordinary level of detail and historical accuracy, the costumes not only chart the evolution of the denizens of Downton, but also shifting fashion throughout the eras. 'We've been able to embrace and explore these really important sartorial steps forward, from 1912 to 1930,' says Anna Robbins, the Emmy-nominated costume designer who took the reins from the fifth series onwards, speaking to The Telegraph at Bonhams. 'It's a drama with such heart and it's about family, but it also tells the story of our time.' That story may be about to draw to a close, but its costumes offer the chance to relive it all, a source of nostalgia for nobody more than Robbins. 'It's like being reunited with old friends,' she says. 'When I'm in the process of designing and making them, I'm so focused and obsessed with every detail. But then you have to kind of set them free – you have to let them go. The fact that someone will now own them and be able to see all the hours that have gone into each one is amazing.' For Charlie Thomas, group director for Private and Iconic Collections at Bonhams UK, this has been particularly striking. 'The extraordinary attention to detail is visible everywhere,' he says, 'from Mrs Patmore's handwritten recipes to the many revived costumes made with original vintage fabrics, like the famously 'modern' harem pants costume worked on by Lady Sybil in the first series.' A historic treasure hunt Behind such recognisable pieces is painstaking work. Every costume began with extensive research, Robbins says, from poring over Chanel back catalogues to scouring the V&A. Then, sourcing could commence, which sent her (and her surprisingly streamlined team) trawling through Portobello Market, uncovering gems in Islington vintage shops and returning to favoured spots such as Chez Sarah in Paris. Original pieces were restored, vintage finds were adapted, and some looks were created from scratch. 'You have a shopping list in mind, but also find pieces that feel true to character and stockpile them for when the moment arises,' says Robbins. Examples from the auction abound, including the dress Lady Mary wore for her visit to the Criterion Restaurant in London with Henry Talbot in series six. The dress, estimated to sell for £1,000-1,500, achieves so much: embodying the bias-cut glamour of the period, echoing the gold mosaic ceiling for which the Criterion is known, nodding to a gown Lady Edith wore to the same venue in an earlier series. And all this is thanks to an overlay crafted from original 1920s metallic floral lace. 'I found about six metres of it, which is really rare to uncover – I'd never seen anything like it,' says Robbins. 'I wasn't completely sure what to do with it until I read the script of the scene.' Such layers of meaning are a common theme. It was unusual, however, to have such a plentiful supply of original material. But as Robbins explains, necessity often gave rise to creativity, as in an elaborate sea green ensemble Lady Violet wore in series six. 'You've got a finite amount of material, not rolls and rolls like in a couture atelier,' she says. 'So with this piece we added tassels and an Egyptology-inspired section that we pieced together to form a seam.' The cinematic finale Revisiting past costumes was a useful tool for Robbins when it came to working on the upcoming Downton film Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale which is set in 1930, bringing a new decade to be explored through costume. 'It was incredible to be able to really dig into a new look,' she says. 'The key change is the shift from the quite androgynous, straight up and down silhouette of the 1920s finding form in the 1930s.' Fans who have spotted Lady Mary's striking scarlet gown in the advert for the final film will know exactly what Robbins means. But while we wait with mixed emotions for the final instalment from the Crawley family and co. to be released, it's heartening to know that the chance to rediscover it all is also imminent. And, for the lucky few, the opportunity to own a piece of Downton for posterity.
