Universities and AI: Keeping Humanity at the Centre
30 October 2026
Mariya Gabriel, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information
“Communication has become much faster, but not necessarily more truthful.”
Pope Leo XIV’s words during his visit to UNESCO on 25 September 2026 capture one of the defining challenges of our time: as artificial intelligence transforms how we learn, research and communicate, how can we ensure that technology serves humanity rather than the other way around?
This question lies at the heart of Magnifica Humanitas, Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on safeguarding the human person in the age of AI. For universities, it raises a fundamental challenge: not simply how to use AI, but how to ensure that it strengthens our capacity to think, discover and act responsibly.
AI can accelerate scientific discovery, analyse vast datasets and open new avenues for research. But knowledge is more than information, and learning is more than finding answers. Both require curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to question evidence. Universities must ensure that AI enhances these human capacities rather than replaces them.
The university of the future must therefore do more than transmit knowledge. It must prepare students to navigate uncertainty, exercise ethical judgement and continue learning throughout their lives.
Media and information literacy is central to this mission. In an information environment increasingly shaped by AI, students, researchers and citizens must be able to assess AI-generated content, evaluate sources, recognise bias and understand the limitations of digital technologies. These skills are essential not only for academic success, but also for informed citizenship and meaningful participation in public life.
Universities must also protect academic freedom and research integrity. As AI reshapes knowledge production and peer review, researchers need the independence to challenge established ideas, question technological assumptions and explore alternatives. Innovation flourishes when intellectual curiosity is protected and new technologies can be examined critically.
This is particularly important for early-career researchers. They need mentorship, international collaboration and sustainable career opportunities to develop original ideas and help shape how AI is designed, governed and used. Investing in young researchers means investing in scientific excellence and in an AI future grounded in human rights, ethical principles and the public interest.
Here, cooperation between UNESCO and the Coimbra Group, a network of longestablished European universities, offers significant potential.
Building on the Coimbra Group’s Scholarship Programme for Early-Career African Researchers, for example, the two rganisations could explore a joint scholarship initiative focused on AI, aligned with UNESCO’s Global Priority Africa.
Such a programme would support young researchers advancing responsible, human-rights-based AI research in Africa through international academic cooperation.
The partnership could also develop practical resources on AI literacy, research integrity and academic freedom, while fostering researcher mobility, multidisciplinary collaboration and policy dialogue. These efforts could contribute to UNESCO’s global capacity-building work and help universities translate shared principles into practice.
Cooperation could extend to public governance. UNESCO’s SPARK-AI Alliance, which brings together schools of public administration and research institutions from more than 50 countries, strengthens governments’ capacity to use AI responsibly.
Coimbra Group universities could contribute expertise in law, public policy and the social sciences, connecting research with policymaking and preparing future public leaders to govern AI responsibly.
Existing UNESCO partnerships demonstrate what is possible. With the University of Oxford, UNESCO has developed a global online course on AI and the Rule of Law. With University College London, it is exploring ways to reduce AI’s environmental footprint.
Yet responsible innovation must also be inclusive. Gender bias and the dominance of a few languages in digital technologies risk deepening inequalities and excluding entire communities. Inclusive research and multilingual approaches are essential to ensure that AI reflects the diversity of the people it serves.
Ultimately, the question is not how far AI can take us, but what future we want it to help create. By combining UNESCO’s global mandate with the expertise of universities, we can ensure that technological progress advances knowledge, expands opportunity and serves the public good.
As Pope Leo XIV reminded us at UNESCO, “our efforts in this domain must ensure that new technologies remain at the service of the human person.”
The future of AI will be shaped by the choices we make today.
Universities have a vital role to play in ensuring that these choices are guided by human dignity, critical thinking and shared responsibility, so that AI serves not only progress, but humanity itself.