Kate’s Take

Remedy or Replication: AI Companions and Relational Trauma, Spring Lowell Lecture @ Boston University

A.I. companions increasingly replace human romantic, erotic, social, educational, therapeutic, and collegial relationships. Whether interpersonally or society-wide, we are ill-equipped to engage in moral discernment about the ethical implications of this shift. The turn to A.I. companions reveals fractured expectations, systemic pressures, and misaligned desires troubling human-to-human relationships misguided by echoes of religiously inflected sexual and gender-based historical trauma embedded in hierarchies of material embodiments and on-going abuses. Our response to this unveiling must reshape Read more

By kateott, ago

AI Tools and Digital Ministry

This course, developed by Kate Ott, PhD, cultivates robust discussion about how faith values guide ethical AI conversations. It is an opportunity to cultivate, what Felicia Wu Song calls a “realistic and motivating vision of our circumstance that helps us imagine the kind of life we are hoping to live and how it is we can get there” in her book Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood Presence, and Place in the Digital Age. This course cultivates Read more

By kateott, ago

Tenderness and Refuge: Ministry with and for Young Adults

Dr. Ott is one of the instructors in the following online course offering. “Tenderness and Refuge: Ministry with and for Young Adults” focuses on six prevailing themes from years of research with young adults yearning for faith community. These themes include a desire for  This mini-course is beneficial for church groups, youth ministers, and anyone invested in young adults. It features Garrett-Evangelical alums, friends, scholars, and practitioners. It highlights their approach, rooted in deep listening Read more

By kateott, ago

The Parables Ethic: Practicing Just Futures with Young People

After presenting at the 2025 Society of Christian Ethics meeting, my paper was accepted and published in Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, August 28, 2025. To read the full article – https://www.pdcnet.org/pdc/bvdb.nsf/purchase26?openform&fp=jsce&id=jsce_2025_0999_8_27_129 Dystopian predictions pervade popular culture as humanity tries to make meaning of climate catastrophe, novel pandemics, and political instability. Young people, labeled “faith unbundled,” increasingly turn away from exclusivist religious visions. Following womanist ethics’ use of fiction with attention to queer Read more

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Teaching Tuesday – AI in Ministry

Dr. Kate Ott, Director of the Stead Center for Ethics and Values at Garrett-Evangelical, will share about the rise of AI in our world and how church leaders might approach it. She will go beyond the question of, “Is AI right or wrong?” and reflect on how we bring our theology and values to this topic and then explore how churches might use AI. Tuesday Teachings are offered by the NIC Office of Congregational Development.

By kateott, ago

Stories of Healing from Our Own Deep Well

Join host Dori Baker and co-host Alejandra Salemi on this podcast that centers the stories and lives of young adults. In each episode, we pair one change-maker over 30 with someone under 30 whom they mentor, befriend, or admire. The younger person tells a story, and we walk through a four-step conversation.  In this episode, Amelia shares a story about phoning a friend to find strength in her weakest moment, and we unearth surprising insights Read more

By kateott, ago

The Future of Our Youth: Ethical Living, Social Media, and Sexuality Education

Sep. 18, 2024, 7 – 8:30pm Dr. Kate Ott will explore the intersections of faith, sex, and technology in the rapidly changing landscape of religious practices and ever-evolving societal upheavals of our time. Join us to learn more about how parents, caregivers, educators, and faith communities can support our youth, teens, and young adults as they navigate these issues while maintaining strong ethical values that will hold them their whole lives.

By kateott, ago

Christian Ethics for Today’s Digital Revolution

Crossroads from Washington National CathedralEpisode 7 – Christian Ethics for Today’s Digital Revolution Joining the Cathedral’s Rev. Jo Nygard Owens, Pastor for Digital Ministry, and Rev. Leonard Hamlin, Canon Missioner, is Dr. Kate Ott, Professor of Christian Social Ethics at Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL, for a rich conversation on today’s digital revolution and the role of Christian ethics in AI, social media, and all things digital. Listen to the full podcast here: Read more

By kateott, ago