The global discourse on workforce readiness for the AI era focuses almost exclusively on technical upskilling and reskilling. Training programs prioritize teaching employees to operate AI tools, manage data, and adapt to automated workflows, treating the human worker as a component to be updated for a new industrial paradigm. This approach, while necessary, is centered on a purely instrumentalist view of human capital, emphasizing efficiency and productivity above all else. This paper argues that such a focus is critically incomplete. It overlooks the profound impact of advanced digital technologies on the inner lives and moral frameworks of workers, affecting their autonomy, ethical discernment, capacity for deep work, and sense of purpose. Current training prepares workers to operate technology but not to resist its potentially dehumanizing tendencies. This study explores this "inner curriculum" of non-technical skills, drawing on unique insights from a community grappling with the tension between ancient tradition and hyper-modernity.

The primary purpose of this research is to identify and articulate the humanistic and ethical competencies required for workforce resilience in an AI-saturated society. The study is motivated by the need to move beyond an instrumentalist view of AI training and to propose a more holistic model that equips workers not only to use technology but to remain its master. This goal is pursued by analyzing the perceptions of Orthodox Christian clergy and laity in Romania. The key research questions are: 1) What are the primary spiritual and ethical risks AI poses to human agency and well-being? 2) How do these risks manifest as challenges within the workforce, particularly regarding critical thinking and interpersonal relationships? 3) What "spiritual skills" or virtues from Orthodox tradition can be translated into a secular framework for modern ethical workforce training, moving from passive consumption to active, value-driven engagement with technology?

The study employs a qualitative methodology, utilizing in-depth, semi-structured interviews with a sample of 8 Christian Orthodox clergy and 6 lay believers in Romania. This two-tiered sample was chosen to capture both the "pastoral-analytical" perspective of spiritual leaders observing broad societal shifts and the "lived-experience" of laypeople navigating these technologies in their daily lives, from young IT engineers to disenchanted seniors. Interview transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis to identify recurrent patterns. Key themes that emerged include: the tension between technology as a threat versus a missionary field ; the asymmetry of power between tech architects and users, likened to a game of "Mafia" where the uninformed majority is easily manipulated ; the generational divide in digital adoption and perception; and the imperative to "sanctify" technology through intentional, value-driven use rather than fearful withdrawal.