Seton Hill University’s mission is grounded in the principles of the Catholic intellectual tradition, which holds that intelligence is a uniquely human gift. We are each created with the capacity for critical thought, creativity, and moral discernment, and the call to care for one another and our common home. These are the human capacities we cultivate in our students, and they also guide our engagement with artificial intelligence (AI). 

AI is not an artificial form of intelligence; instead, it is better thought of as a product of human intelligence (Antiqua et Nova). Like all human inventions, AI is not neutral and brings both opportunities and risks. As Pope Leo XIV writes in “Magnifica Humanitas,” “Technology has the power to heal, connect, educate and protect our common home; but it can also divide, exclude and generate new forms of injustice” (para. 9). In educational settings, AI can enrich learning and expand opportunities for engagement when used thoughtfully. It can also have negative effects like undermining human capacities for critical thought and creativity, obscuring truth, and weakening genuine human connection when used irresponsibly. Seton Hill’s mission calls for engagement with AI in critical, creative, and ethical ways that serve the common good and aim to responsibly transform the world.

Therefore, any use of AI at Seton Hill must uphold these Setonian values:

• Dignity. Use AI to enhance human capacities, not replace them. Use AI to promote the common good and avoid creating harm or widening disparities. 

• Agency. Keep human judgment at the center of AI use. AI must not replace critical thinking and human discernment; there must always be a “human in the loop.” 

• Truth. Do not use AI to create misleading or falsified content or to obstruct the pursuit of truth.

• Responsibility. Practice responsibility for both the intended and unintended effects of the decision to use AI.

• Connection. AI is a technology, not a person. It must not substitute for human interaction or relationships.

• Sustainability. Consider AI’s environmental impacts on our common home and seek sustainable options when possible. 

• Honesty & Transparency. Act with integrity, disclosing to others when and how AI has been used.

• Privacy and Security. Protect personal data, intellectual property, and confidential information. Follow all applicable university data-security policies.

• Reverence for Human Capacities. Let AI use reflect reverence for the human needs and gifts that transcend technology, such as empathy, creativity, critical thinking, love, forgiveness, faith, and friendship.