Aristarchοs Gkrekas
Cleric of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens and Associate Professor in the Department of Theology of the School of Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Very Reverend Archimandrite Aristarchos Gkrekas is a cleric of the Holy Archdiocese of Athens and Associate Professor in the Department of Theology of the School of Theology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, where he holds the chair of Theology and Ecclesiastical Literature. His academic formation brings together theology, the humanities, and international relations. He holds a degree in Theology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an MSc in Dogmatic Theology from the same institution, and an MSc from Durham University in Conflict Prevention, Sustainable Peace and Security. He also earned his PhD from the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. His further academic training includes, among other qualifications, participation in the Harvard University programme “Artificial Intelligence: Exploring Policy, Technology, and Governance” (2019).
In the course of his academic and research career, he has served as Laboratory Teaching Staff at the Higher Ecclesiastical Academy of Athens, and subsequently as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He is the founder and director of the “Church and Culture” Laboratory and has developed scholarly initiatives directly related to artificial intelligence, including the academic bibliographical platform Religion, Humanity and AI. He also serves as Head of Specialization in the postgraduate programme “Humanitarian Communication and New Technologies” of the European Communication Institute.
His contribution to the field of Artificial Intelligence has received formal recognition. In 2024, he was awarded the “George Karagiannis Journalism and Technology Award” by the Athanasios G. Botsis Foundation for the Promotion of Journalism for his research on Artificial Intelligence and Humanism. In the same year, he also received the AHEPA Award for Letters.
His publications in the field include the monograph Artificial Intelligence and the Human Person: An Orthodox Theological Approach (Apostoliki Diakonia, 2022; 2nd ed. 2024), the volume Exploring Religious Dimensions in AI and Humanity (Bloomsbury / Rowman & Littlefield Academic / Lexington Books, Washington, DC–Maryland, 2024), and the expanded Serbian translation of his work, Вештачка интелигенција и човек – православни теолошки приступ (Belgrade, 2025). Among his international publications is also the study “Artificial Intelligence and Orthodox Anthropology.”
He has maintained an active scholarly presence in academic events devoted to Artificial Intelligence, theology, anthropology, and contemporary technological thought, presenting papers and lectures at international conferences, specialist workshops, academic symposia, and research programmes. His work focuses especially on the theological, anthropological, and cultural dimensions of AI, and on the dialogue between Orthodox theology and emerging technologies.