Launching the president’s task force: AI-enabled university

Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming how people learn, discover, create, and work across virtually every sector of society. For universities, AI presents an opportunity not only to enhance learning and accelerate discovery but also to redefine how knowledge is created, shared, and applied. At the University of Alberta—home to one of the world's leading AI research communities—we are helping shape the future of artificial intelligence while preparing our students, researchers, and staff to thrive in an AI-enabled world. We embrace this opportunity with both ambition and responsibility, recognizing that realizing AI's benefits requires thoughtful leadership, strong governance, and a clear commitment to ethical and human-centred innovation.

Through the University’s Strategic Plan, SHAPE, we have committed to building the future with purpose and impact. AI has an important role to play in enabling that future, positioning the U of A to contribute to the responsible development and use of AI in higher education while remaining grounded in our academic mission and institutional values.

The University of Alberta and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) are launching the AI-Enabled University initiative to position the university at the forefront of responsible AI adoption in higher education. Drawing on the University of Alberta's internationally recognized leadership in AI research, teaching, and innovation, the President has convened a President’s Task Force on the AI-Enabled University to help chart a coordinated path forward, advance opportunities across the institution, and ensure AI enhances learning, research, and service while remaining grounded in human values.

The task force will bring together diverse perspectives from across the university to inform a coordinated and institution-wide approach to AI adoption. Through dialogue, engagement, and knowledge sharing, it will identify opportunities, assess challenges, surface emerging priorities, and provide advice on issues requiring further consideration as AI continues to evolve. The task force will advise and inform institutional planning and is not a decision-making body. Authority for decisions related to curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, research, operations, policy, and resource allocation will remain with the university’s established governance, leadership, and administrative bodies.

Graduates of the University of Alberta will enter a world where AI shapes nearly every profession and sector. Whether pursuing healthcare, sciences and engineering, business, law, education, the arts, or the public service, graduates will need the knowledge, judgment, and confidence to work effectively with AI and to understand its impact on their fields and society. Our responsibility extends beyond teaching students how to use AI tools. We must equip them with the creativity, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and adaptability required to lead and succeed in an AI-enabled world. By combining AI fluency with the distinctly human skills that drive innovation and informed decision-making, we will prepare graduates to navigate complexity, create value, and shape the future.

President’s Task Force Guiding Principles

Responsible integration
AI will be adopted carefully and transparently with close attention to academic integrity, research ethics, responsible use, privacy, data sovereignty, intellectual property, and the broader societal implications of AI.

Faculty and instructor partnership
Academic staff will determine how AI is used within their disciplines, classrooms, and learning environments. Decisions relating to curriculum, pedagogy, assessment, and academic standards will continue to be governed through established academic processes.

Human-centred approach
The purpose of AI adoption is to support people and advance the university’s mission. AI will be used to augment human capability and judgment, not replace them.

Strengthening the academic mission
AI will enhance, not replace, the intellectual work of teaching, learning, and scholarship, reinforcing critical thinking, creativity, and independent judgment.

What the AI-Enabled University initiative will do

Over the next two years, the initiative will:

• Advance AI fluency across the university, equipping students, faculty, and staff to thrive in an AI-enabled world.
• Empower instructors to innovate in teaching, learning, and assessment through the thoughtful integration of AI.
• Leverage the university's world-leading AI expertise to accelerate research development, enhance research productivity, and expand scholarly impact.
• Transform services by applying AI to improve quality, consistency, effectiveness, and responsiveness across the institution.
• Deepen collaboration across the university while strengthening strategic partnerships with Amii and other leading organizations in the AI ecosystem.
• Identify where additional safeguards, guidance, and policy frameworks are needed to support responsible, secure, and ethical AI adoption.

The President’s Task Force will build on the work of the AI Steering Committee and provide a forum for ongoing dialogue, coordination, and advice as the university continues to explore the implications of AI for teaching, learning, research, and operations.

This initiative positions the University of Alberta to contribute to national and international conversations about the responsible integration of AI in higher education. Working with Amii and partners, we will help shape an approach that advances innovation while remaining firmly grounded in a university's values and purpose.