(RNS) — One of the greatest privileges I enjoy as a university president is looking directly into the eyes of new graduates as they cross the stage in our commencement ceremonies. This year had a twist: Given recent news stories about universities using artificial intelligence to announce graduates’ names, I made a point to reassure the audiences an actual human would do the honors. 

And at each ceremony, that announcement brought loud cheers.

Yes, we love our technology today, but we also still yearn for authentic human connection. If we don’t provide it, our institutions risk becoming transactional degree factories where students become dehumanized. 

The day after our final ceremony, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, titled “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” This writing carries critical implications not just for Catholic higher education, but for all educators. While many of the insights are worth highlighting, Pope Leo could not have been clearer about the path forward: “Let us cultivate relationships.”

Colleges and universities must always strive to provide a return on investment for the thousands of students and families paying hard-earned money for a degree. But they must never lose sight that teaching students to cultivate relationships is the greatest value for taking those degrees and making a true difference in the world.

Universities are essential to avoiding the “Babel syndrome” referenced in the encyclical. That, of course, is a reference to the biblical story of the “Tower of Babel,” in which the people embarked on an ill-fated project to make a name for themselves by building a tower that would reach the heavens. The result was not unity, but confusion and separation. Leo calls on educators to not make the same mistake of believing a single, digital language (like AI) can “translate everything, including the mystery of the person, into data and performance.”

Pope Leo XIV attends the presentation of his first encyclical, “Magnifica Humanitas: On Safeguarding the Human Person in the Time of Artificial Intelligence,” at the Vatican, May 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

For educators, this means we are obligated to pursue the integration of knowledge and equip our students with the ability to grasp complexity and the skills to verify facts. These are precisely the skills our graduates will need to ensure that the organizations for which they ultimately work (and eventually lead) bring benefit to the communities they aim to serve. Are we equipping our students with media literacy? And positioning them to build trust across our algorithm-driven silos? And helping them develop an ethical lens that will guide their deployment of new technologies?

Higher education, however, should always aim to provide more than knowledge and skills. That is why providing space for reflection, discernment and appreciation is just as critical as building skillsets and knowledge, as this is what allows them to find true direction in their lives. Are we offering them resources to build not just a good career, but a meaningful life? Can they identify the core purpose that drives them forward? Can they articulate why they matter in terms that are not contingent on their external achievements? Today’s graduates may not know exactly how their worlds will look 10 years from now given the magnitude of looming technological changes, but having that true direction can help them navigate those changes. As educators, that is how we can best prepare them to flourish. 

Yes, our institutions must teach students how to succeed in the emerging world of AI, but a core piece of that instruction means helping them understand that AI is not a substitute for human relationships. Pope Leo warns that as more emphasis is placed on “speed and fragmentation, the human person still yearns to receive care and recognition from attentive minds, kind words and hands capable of tenderness.”

And sometimes that tenderness comes from the simple act of reading a name. At my university, we like to say our professors know amazing things — like their students’ names. That amazing knowledge may be more important than ever in the new, uncertain AI era.

(Robert K. Vischer is president of the University of St. Thomas. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Religion News Service.)