Pepperdine University launched the Institute for Wisdom and AI on September 25, 2026, a new interdisciplinary initiative designed to bring Christian thought and academic expertise to questions surrounding artificial intelligence and human flourishing. The announcement came during the University's sixth annual Human-Centered AI Conference on its Malibu campus, alongside the inaugural Global Summit on Faith in AI.
University president Jim Gash framed the institute's mission around a warning from writer Wendell Berry. "'The next great division of humanity, Wendell Berry warned a quarter-century ago, will be between those who live as creatures and those who wish to live as machines," Gash said. "To be a creature is to be made by God, in His image, for relationship with Him and with one another. That is something artificial intelligence may attempt to imitate, but can never replicate."
The institute will be housed in Seaver College, Pepperdine's undergraduate liberal arts college, with participation from the School of Public Policy. Its work will extend across the University's schools, connecting scientific and technical resources in Malibu with a policy presence in Washington, DC.
A practical research agenda
The institute's research agenda targets specific, practical questions. These include how AI can create economic opportunity without stripping the dignity of work, how the technology is shaped by principles of democracy and human liberty, and how breakthroughs in medicine and mental health can maintain patient-centered care. It will also examine how universities can give students access to powerful computational tools without undermining critical thinking, deep reading, and moral formation.
Provost Jay Brewster said a Christian university offers a distinctive approach. "The temptation is to treat AI purely as an engineering problem," Brewster said. "However, this technology is already reaching deeply into all facets of society. To navigate the change that is coming requires an evaluation of important questions regarding personhood, human agency, and societal values as AI becomes more fully integrated into our lives."
Convening power across sectors
The two-day conference that hosted the announcement brought together Turing Award laureate Judea Pearl, Caltech's Katie Bouman, UK AI Security Institute director Henry de Zoete, and researchers from UCLA, USC, MIT, and Berkeley. Christian leaders from Orthodox, Coptic, and evangelical communities attended alongside religious leaders representing Jewish, Hindu, and Muslim communities.
The institute begins work immediately, with annual gatherings in Malibu each fall and at Pepperdine's international campuses in cities including Washington, DC, Geneva, and Buenos Aires. The first international convening is planned for Geneva later this year. When fully funded, it will support faculty and research fellows across business, law, public policy, psychology, and the sciences, producing applied research on AI's effects on employment, family life, education, and national security.
Gash said the development of AI must be oriented toward "the true north of human flourishing. That will take wisdom, and it will take courage, and Pepperdine intends to bring both."
Why this matters for education and research professionals
The Pepperdine institute signals a growing institutional demand for AI literacy that is paired with ethical frameworks rather than treated as a standalone technical skill. For educators and researchers designing curricula or policy recommendations, the initiative's structure-spanning undergraduate liberal arts, public policy, and international convenings-offers a model for cross-disciplinary AI programming. Professionals developing AI public policy courses or advising institutions on technology integration will see a concrete example of how universities are building research agendas that connect technical capability with questions of human agency and workforce dignity.
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