DELTA: Human Formation in the Age of AI
As artificial intelligence becomes more powerful, Christian institutions must look beyond an “ethical floor” of safety, privacy, and transparency. DELTA proposes a deeper, faith-informed approach rooted in enduring Christian values: Dignity, Embodiment, Love, Transcendence, and Agency. We need, as Pope Francis put it, a growth in human responsibility, values, and conscience that is proportionate to the advances posed by technology.
The Institute for Ethics and the Common Good is leading the development of the DELTA network, which will provide practical resources for scholars, religious leaders, tech leaders, teachers, journalists, young people, and the broader public to help navigate challenges posed by rapidly developing AI.
This work is made possible with the generous support of a $50.8 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., awarded in December 2025.
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Join the conversation as we cast a vision of what a flourishing life looks like in a world saturated with technology.
What is the DELTA framework?
Dignity
Every human being possesses inherent worth—not because of productivity, intelligence, or economic value, but because they are made in the image of God. As Pope Leo XIV reminds us, “The person is not a system of algorithms.” In an age of comparison to machines, we must reaffirm that human dignity is non-negotiable. This includes how we design and regulate AI in ways that honor the dignity of workers, learners, patients, and users.
Embodiment
We are embodied, relational, and mortal beings—our lives unfold in space, time, and community. Christian ethics centers the Incarnation: God takes on the vulnerability of human flesh. While AI can extend capabilities, it must not obscure the sacredness of human presence or diminish authentic experience. Policies must guide appropriate use of AI in healthcare, education, and other areas where embodied life matters most.
Love
Christian ethics begins with love: a radical, unconditional call to see and serve others in their full humanity. AI may simulate care or companionship, but cannot replace the messy, mutual, and grace-filled nature of real relationships. From social media to chatbots, we must evaluate technologies based on whether they foster compassion—or distort it. Emerging adults, in particular, need space for genuine formation and human connection.
Transcendence
Not everything of value can be created, optimized, or sold. Wonder, beauty, truth, and gratitude draw us beyond ourselves to rejoice in the gifts that God gives us. As AI unlocks new forms of creativity, Christians must resist the temptation to confuse innovation with ultimate meaning. We must nurture practices—like worship, contemplation, and awe—that root us in something higher than the digital.
Agency
To flourish, humans need to pay attention and exercise freedom and moral responsibility. The Christian tradition teaches that agency is not just task completion, but the capacity to choose truth and good. As AI systems suggest, filter, and even act for us, it is vital to guard the kinds of decisions only human consciences should make. Discernment and virtue must be taught alongside technological fluency.
DELTA In the News
More Media Mentions-
The Wall Street Journal
Pastors Using AI to Help Write Sermons Grapple With Where to Draw the Line
July 19, 2026
Meghan Sullivan, a University of Notre Dame professor of philosophy who is leading a research project on AI and religion, said that using AI to draft anything spoken in worship reflects a basic misunderstanding of what Christians believe is happening when a preacher delivers a homily.
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Commonweal
Us vs. the Robots
June 30, 2026
From Meghan Sullivan: "When Pope Leo XIV took office last year, he indicated that he would devote substantial attention to the challenges posed by artificial intelligence. In this regard, his choice of a papal name was no accident: he specifically referenced Pope Leo XIII, who in 1891 wrote an encyclical, Rerum novarum, that offered thoughts on how to rein in the most dehumanizing aspects of the Industrial Revolution. With Magnifica humanitas, Leo has delivered on that promise and then some. The hard work now begins to ensure that his teaching reaches its intended audience."
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The Tablet
AI gets religion
May 28, 2026
What does A 2,000-year-old world religion have to say about powerful AI? As it turns out, a lot – more than 42,000 words, give or take, depending on the language in which you are reading the encyclical. . .
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Meghan Sullivan is the director of the Notre Dame Institute for Ethics and the Common Good.
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The New York Times
To Understand Pope Leo’s Efforts on A.I., Look at the Man Shaking His Hand
May 26, 2026
The University of Notre Dame received a $50 million grant from the Lilly Endowment in December to develop faith-based ethical frameworks for A.I. through its Institute for Ethics and the Common Good.
Events
Hard Fork Live
ECG Director Meghan Sullivan recently presented on DELTA at The New York Times' Hard Fork Live event in San Francisco.
The Understory Festival
The DELTA team joined the Understory Festival in Washington D.C. on May 28-30, and sponsored a Nave Nook experience and a breakout session during the event.
2025 Summit on AI Faith and Human Flourishing
Two hundred invited leaders from the tech industry, faith communities, academia, media, and government gathered for the first annual Summit for AI, Faith, and Human Flourishing. The summit was created to begin to develop a collective response to the opportunities and challenges presented by these new technologies, ensuring that Christians have a “voice at the table” during this time of rapid social transformation.
Ways to get involved
Rapid Response Grant Program
This year through our Faith and AI Rapid Response Grant program, we are partnering with multiple organizations across the United States to catalyze high-impact projects that address the ethical and spiritual challenges of rapid AI advancement. This initiative is supporting the creation of practical, scalable tools for religious, educational, and tech leaders that we can then disseminate across our global DELTA network. These short-term, $100,000 grants serve as a rapid-response mechanism to ensure that moral and faith-informed guidance keeps pace with technological innovation, while also establishing a pipeline for larger-scale, longer-term impact through subsequent funding opportunities.
Regional Hubs & Communities of Practice
We are establishing regional hubs in the Bay Area and Washington, DC, to anchor our network in some of the primary pulse points of AI development and policy. These locations will serve as vital meeting grounds for our core communities of practice in education, pastoral ministry, and public engagement to come together, break bread, workshop ideas, and learn from one another how best to translate the ethical insights of the DELTA framework into formative action in our daily lives and local communities. We invite our community to move from the classroom and the parish into the public square and to ensure that practitioner wisdom is represented wherever the future of AI is being built, debated, and regulated.
The Human DELTA
Navigating the great AI shift — with the oldest and best technology we have.
“The person is not a system of algorithms.”
—Pope Leo XIV