UWTSD academics help shape global dialogue on AI and Human Intelligence at Scholas Chairs Congress in Rome
Academics from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) played a central role in shaping international discussions on Artificial Intelligence, education, and human flourishing at the 10th International Congress of Scholas Occurrentes Chairs, held in Rome on 17–19 November 2025.
Hosted at the Pontifical Urban University and bringing together representatives from more than 50 universities, the congress explored the theme “Intelligence Without Meaning or the Meaning of Artificial Intelligence?”
UWTSD’s delegation, Dr Jeremy Smith, Dean of the Institute of Education and Humanities, and Prof Scherto Gill, Director of the University’s Global Humanity for Peace Institute, contributed substantially to the collective dialogue throughout the two-day programme.
Leading with Purpose in an AI-Driven World
In a keynote contribution titled “Leading with Purpose in an AI-Driven World”, Dr Jeremy Smith emphasised the urgent responsibility universities face in an era where AI is transforming every aspect of work, society, and human interaction.
Dr Smith argued that while AI is accelerating at unprecedented speed, universities must ensure that human meaning, creativity, and moral purpose remain at the heart of education.
“Artificial Intelligence is not simply a technological development,” Dr Smith told delegates. “It is reshaping the contexts in which human creativity, collaboration, and responsibility unfold. Our role as universities is to accompany our students - helping them to remain adaptable, reflective, and ethically grounded so that AI systems serve, not shape, human well-being.”
Drawing on UWTSD’s values-led institutional strategy, Dr Smith outlined a number of major initiatives already underway across the University, including the training of nearly 400 staff in the use of generative AI tools and responsible practice, the embedding of AI literacy programmes for students across disciplines, and the introduction, since 2024, of clear, discipline-specific guidance on the ethical and creative use of AI in all assessments. He also described the development of the University’s “Learn–Adapt–Adopt–Develop” model to guide the institutional integration of AI, alongside the establishment of a network of AI Champions across faculties to foster innovation, support staff, and share best practice.
Dr Smith emphasised that UWTSD’s approach is rooted in human dignity, creativity, and ethical stewardship, aligning closely with the congress’s focus on the deeper meaning of intelligence.
“The future of education lies not in algorithms, but in the minds and hearts of those who learn,” he concluded. “AI can inform our work, but it can never replace the depth of the human experience. Our responsibility is to innovate with wisdom of heart.”
Exploring Human Intelligence and Inspiring Young Changemakers
Prof Scherto Gill offered philosophical and educational reflections on the nature of intelligence. She suggests that human intelligence cannot be reduced to functional task-performance or utility, but involves the whole person, embodied and emplaced, oriented towards meaning – truth, goodness, and beauty. Intelligence integrates the cognitive, relational, agentic and spiritual dimensions in genuine engagement with reality.
Applying this understanding in education, the Global Humanity for Peace Institute and Pontifical foundation Scholas continued their partnership on a Young Changemakers Programme. Youth from across five continents explored questions including: Who am I/are we?Where do we come from? Where are we now? Where are we going? How might we get there? forming the arc of the programme’s journey. The group focused their experience, dialogue and creativity on the social and ethical implications of emerging technologies, and articulated their aspirations for collaborative meaning-making as the basis for transformative changemaking.
Prof Gill reflected on the significance of centring youth voice throughout the Congress:
“If intelligence is truly relational, embodied, and oriented towards the good, then education must cultivate these capacities, and the young changemakers have shown us how. Their courage, moral imagination, and commitment to co-creation offer exactly the kind of leadership that Dr Smith called for: grounded in purpose, human dignity and wisdom of heart.”
Further Information
Arwel Lloyd
Principal PR and Communications Officer
Corporate Communications and PR
Email: arwel.lloyd@uwtsd.ac.uk
Phone: 07384 467076