Formed for What Comes Next
Artificial intelligence is changing how we learn, create, communicate and work. At Lipscomb University, we meet this change with curiosity and courage, grounded in the purpose of Christian education. We want students to understand these tools, use them wisely and consider how their choices affect other people.
AI can generate information, answers and content. But wisdom, character and a life of purpose must be formed. As technology grows more powerful, our commitment to educating the whole person matters more than ever.
What This Means for Students
Lipscomb students will have opportunities to explore AI as a tool for learning and creative work. They will also learn to examine its output, question its assumptions, protect private information and take responsibility for the work they submit.
Faculty guide students in deciding when AI supports the goals of a course or assignment and when doing the work without technology is essential to learning. Expectations may differ across disciplines and assignments. In every setting, we want students to develop both the ability to use emerging tools and the judgment to know when to set them aside.
Those habits prepare students for work and life beyond Lipscomb. They need technical fluency, but they also need to think critically, work with others, make ethical decisions, and use what they know in service of their neighbors.
Our Philosophy
Lipscomb approaches AI through the lens of biblical principles. We believe every person bears the image of God and possesses inherent dignity. Each student brings strengths to cultivate, questions to explore and a vocation to discern. Technology should help people learn and use those gifts well while leaving room for the relationships, attention and honest effort through which people grow in wisdom.
This leads us to ask a question that guides our approach: What kind of people and what kind of learning community are we becoming?
We ask whether AI is helping students learn or doing the work that they need to practice for themselves. We consider whose information is being used, whether the answers a tool provides can be trusted and who has access to it. We make space for faculty and students to test ideas, raise concerns and revise their practices as these tools change. And, our Journey Core focuses on building skills for human flourishing, including critical thinking, communication and creative problem solving.
Our Christian mission gives our work direction. We seek knowledge with humility, pursue excellence with diligence and consider how our choices serve God and neighbor.
Our Guiding Principles in AI Use
Our approach to AI is shaped by the unique values of our scholarly Christ-centered community. Lipscomb created these guiding principles for AI use based on our Core Values.
- Love God: We consider how the use of AI can help us live faithfully, fulfill our calling and honor our Creator.
- Seek to Learn: We engage AI with informed curiosity, critical thinking, prayerful discernment and a commitment to the continuing journey of learning.
- Serve Others: We use technology to enrich lives, address meaningful needs and contribute to human flourishing.
- Embrace Collaboration: We learn across disciplines and roles, inviting experimentation, critique and dialogue within and beyond the Lipscomb community.
- Respect All: We protect privacy, promote equitable access, examine bias and harm, and affirm the dignity of every person as an image-bearer of God.
- Deliver Our Best: We pursue excellent work and use AI in ways that strengthen creativity, rigor and responsible innovation.
- Pursue Joy: We explore how technology can enrich the human experience while preserving the relationships, wonder and presence that give learning meaning.
- Create Solutions: We provide clear, transparent and adaptable guidance so our community can use emerging technologies safely and effectively.
How We Put This into Practice
Learning with faculty guidance. Faculty decide how AI can support learning in their courses and communicate their expectations to students. Students are responsible for understanding those expectations, representing their work honestly and examining AI output critically.
Exploring across disciplines. Students and faculty are learning what AI makes possible and where its use raises new questions in their fields. Lipscomb creates opportunities to explore those questions together through teaching, conversation and experimentation.
Using tools responsibly. We provide guidance on privacy, appropriate use and access to approved tools so members of our community can explore AI with greater clarity and care.
Continuing to learn. Our practices will develop as the technology changes and as we learn from students, faculty, staff and academic leaders. We will keep asking whether our use of AI strengthens learning and serves our mission.
Explore AI at Lipscomb
The future before us is still being formed, and so are we. At Lipscomb, we commit to explore what these tools can do while remaining fully engaged in the work of learning, discerning and becoming people who use their knowledge and strengths to love and serve God and neighbor and contribute to the flourishing of the world.
Our Academic Programs:
- Bachelor of Science in Data Science
- Master of Science in Applied Artificial Intelligence
- Graduate Certificate in Applied Artificial Intelligence
Approved Tools:
- BoodleBox
The leading AI collaborative platform for higher education, BoodleBox aggregates popular large language models like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and many others into a single platform, while also ensuring data privacy and protection. - Copilot
Microsoft’s AI Assistant, Copilot helps boost productivity and streamline workflows by offering contextual assistance, automating routine tasks and analyzing data. - Gemini
Google’s AI assistant, Gemini can help with writing, planning and brainstorming as well as provide personalized assistance by connecting your favorite Google apps, like Gmail, Calendar and Drive. - Grammarly
An AI-powered writing assistant, Grammarly can check your spelling, grammar and punctuation, improve your writing and detect plagiarism and AI-generated text. - Zoom AI
The AI companion embedded in Zoom delivers powerful, real-time capabilities to increase productivity and work output, through chat, a meeting notetaker, content generation, analysis and more.
