The Veritas University, Abuja, has become the first university in Africa to sign the Humanitas AI Compact, an institutional response to the Magnifica Humanitas declaration by Pope Leo XIV calling on universities worldwide to take responsibility for the ethical governance and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI).

The signing took place during the university’s 154th Senate meeting, with the Vice-Chancellor, Rev. Fr. Prof. Hyacinth Ichoku, signing the compact on behalf of the institution.

Other signatories included Prof. Emeka Aniagolu for the Institute for African American Studies, Abuja; Elder Solomon Appiah-Wilson for the Commonwealth Forum, London; Dr. Sam Amadi for the Centre for AI, Digital Justice and Economic Rights (CADER); and Dr. Mehad Nasreldin for the African Institute of Public Health, Addis Ababa.

Addressing members of the Senate before the signing, Ichoku described the event as Veritas University’s institutional response to Pope Leo XIV’s call for educational institutions to assume greater responsibility in shaping the ethical use of AI.

“The Humanitas AI Compact exists because of Magnifica Humanitas. In Magnifica Humanitas, the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, called on universities and institutions of learning by name to take up their responsibility in the age of artificial intelligence. This Compact is our institutional response to that call, beginning from Africa and extending to all institutions entrusted with the formation, protection, education, healing, governance and advancement of the human person,” he said.

According to the vice-chancellor, the Pope’s message underscores that AI should be developed and deployed in ways that serve humanity, particularly vulnerable populations, including the poor, the sick, migrants, people displaced by conflict, women and girls.

He noted that, in line with Catholic teaching, papal encyclicals and declarations are intended to inspire action rather than admiration alone.

“An encyclical is never only a document to be admired. It is a call to be received, embodied, organised and carried into the world,” he said.

He added that African educational institutions must begin giving institutional expression to the principles outlined in Magnifica Humanitas.

The Humanitas AI Compact is built on seven guiding principles, including human dignity, subsidiarity, the common good, the universal destination of goods, truth and the integral development of the human person.

It also outlines seven institutional commitments, including reviewing academic programmes to prepare students for the age of AI, promoting digital literacy, directing AI research toward addressing the needs of vulnerable populations, supporting justice and peace, strengthening collaboration among educational institutions, contributing to AI governance and policy development, and ensuring that the benefits of digital technologies are shared equitably.

According to the organisers, the Humanitas AI Compact is a cross-sector initiative that seeks to ensure AI serves humanity while protecting vulnerable groups.

It also challenges the notion that AI possesses genuine creativity or moral discernment, cautioning against relying solely on algorithmic systems to make decisions affecting human lives. The next phase of the initiative is expected to commence in the second month following the release of Magnifica Humanitasand will be opened to a broader network of educational, healthcare, public and civil society institutions across Africa and other parts of the world.