Mexico City, June 13, 2025.- As part of the Claustro 2025, under the title 4.0: Navigating Change with AI, the Universidad Panamericana a cross-campus event that connected the academic communities of its three campuses—Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Aguascalientes—to discuss the present and future of artificial intelligence (AI) in higher education.
The event opened with the keynote address The Impact of AI on Higher Education, presented by Dr. José María Jiménez, who offered a critical, ethical, and deeply human reflection on the challenges universities face in the face of the growing presence of intelligent systems.
Dr. Jiménez introduced the concept of technological plausibility, using it to describe how AI, even though it lacks consciousness, can simulate it so effectively that we perceive it as genuinely human. “It’s not technological truth; it’s plausibility,”, he stated.
This phenomenon, he explained, requires educators to adopt a critical perspective and receive ethical training that enables them to navigate the digital revolution without losing sight of what it means to be human.
These reflections are naturally intertwined with the General Framework for the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence Systems recently adopted by the Universidad Panamericana. This document recognizes that “AI is a tool at the service of the individual” and that its use must be guided by principles of respect for human dignity, responsibility, transparency, justice, and privacy.
The scholar also pointed out that there is now more synthetic data (generated by AI) than organic data (produced by humans), which poses new challenges for the generation, validation, and management of knowledge.
Given this situation, the Universidad Panamericana the importance of its students and faculty not only interacting with artificial intelligence systems, but also understanding their fundamentals, limitations, and the responsibilities they entail.
The conference concluded with a powerful image: the hand painted in the Altamira Cave by a young girl 50,000 years ago, as a symbol of permanence and human connection. “AI has also left its mark, and we must decide how we respond to it,”, said Dr. Jiménez.
At the Universidad Panamericana, the decision is clear: to embrace this opportunity with responsibility, critical thinking, and a well-defined ethical compass. Because the future of artificial intelligence is also a matter of values.
Critical thinking, strategy, and support: key takeaways from the panel
Following the conference, a multidisciplinary panel in which researchers, executives, and representatives from the technology sector discussed the integration of AI into educational processes.
Dr. Dr. Lourdes Martínez Villaseñor, president of the Mexican of Artificial Intelligence, posed one of the key questions of the meeting: “How do we define critical thinking when a machine simulates reasoning faster than a human?”
His response was clear: education must strengthen human skills (ethics, reasoning, judgment) as the core of work with AI. “It’s not a question of whether AI is ready, but whether we are,”, he said. He also he emphasized the importance of acting based on clear values, especially in a context where legal, institutional, and ethical frameworks are still under development.
For his part, the CTO of the Universidad Panamericana, Juan Carlos García Sánchez, shared three strategic initiatives that are already underway at the institutional level:
- The establishment of an institutional initiative that coordinates all artificial intelligence efforts across the five campuses of the Universidad Panamericana.
- The issuance of more than 1,900 licenses for generative tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini to support academic, administrative, and research work.
- The formation of Artificial Intelligence committees that guide technology decisions based on academic input and pedagogical impact.
From the field of technology, Lorena Bravo, Head of Innovation, Digital Transformation & Security Practices in Latin America at Google, suggested changing the question from “what can AI do” to “what do we want to achieve with it”. He presented examples of the use of digital agents and the physical-digital model in communities, emphasizing that the key lies in defining pedagogical strategies, not in adopting technology for its own sake.
A Call to Rethink Education from a Human Perspective
Ms. Mtra. Mónica López, head of Talent Mexico, noted that the role of teachers should focus on support and the learning process, rather than on evaluating AI-generated outputs. “Artificial intelligence does not replace human guidance; it is we who provide the scaffolding for learning,”, she said.
For his part, the Dr. Philippe Prince urged us to be mindful of the language we use when referring to AI. “To humanize it linguistically is already a form of defeat. Education is not about implementing a technology, but about creating a resonance in the other”. His final reflection was forceful: academic integrity is not imposed by external policies, but is lived as a culture that considers it humiliating to delegate thought.
Institutional Assessment and the Continuity of the Ethical Framework
During the event, an ongoing diagnostic study was also presented on teacher self-determination in the face of AI, led by the three campuses of the Universidad Panamericana. The survey, which addresses perceptions, risks, and levels of technological adoption, seeks to identify training needs that will strengthen the ethical guidance of this transition.
Through these initiatives, the Universidad Panamericana its leadership in building a university ecosystem where artificial intelligence is always at the service of the individual, guided by values, critical thinking, and an institutional ethical compass.
Learn more about the principles of the Universidad Panamericana : https://www.up.edu.mx/sobre-la-universidad-fundamentos-y-valores/
