Answering the Call: Lipscomb's Journey with AI
A New Adventure in Learning: Why Lipscomb is Leaning into AI
Today I'm sharing the first in a series, Answering the Call: Lipscomb's Journey with AI, sharing reflections and lessons learned as the Lipscomb community works to learn how to respond effectively to artificial intelligence in higher education.
A New Adventure in Learning: Why Lipscomb is Leaning into AI
In higher education, we often talk about the journey of learning, of calling students into discovery, challenge, and growth. As a scholarly Christian community, we believe that our approach to AI must be grounded in our core values. So we established a set of guiding principles for the ethical and purposeful use of AI. These principles serve as the foundation for how we as a community integrate emerging technologies into all that we do:
We believe that:
Love for God inspires us to use AI in ways that align with our divine calling.
A commitment to learning calls us to approach AI with both curiosity and discernment.
Service to others reminds us to keep people at the center, prioritizing humanity over technology.
Collaboration pushes us to innovate in community, not isolation.
Respect for all demands that our AI practices affirm the dignity of each person as an image-bearer of God.
Excellence leads us to harness AI as a tool for good, delivering our very best.
And joy, yes joy, reminds us that technology can and should enrich our shared human experience.
Lastly, we create solutions by providing clear, transparent, and well-documented guidelines for the uses of AI to allow our community to explore and benefit from emerging technologies safely and effectively.
We believe that having clearly articulated guiding principles is essential to using AI effectively and ethically. These principles help us discern when and how to engage with AI, how to protect privacy and integrity, and how to ensure that this technology supports human flourishing rather than undermines it.
Our answer to the question “How do we prepare students for a world that doesn’t yet fully exist?” begins with forming a culture that is anchored in purpose. That culture is one where we can explore AI boldly, lead with clarity, and stay grounded in the values that shape who we are.
Embracing AI is about keeping up with innovation while being faithful stewards of the tools we’ve been given and preparing our students to lead with wisdom, courage, and grace in a rapidly changing world. Grounding our approach to AI in our core values is the key to the enthusiasm and flourishing that we’ve already seen in our community.
