By Emma Posey
On Thursday. May 28, the U of L Office of the President sent out a university-wide email introducing “Cardinal Intelligence,” a new AI effort.
Specifics on what Cardinal Intelligence is were unclear from the email alone. However, a precedent was laid out clearly for the University of Louisville’s relationship with AI.
The email stated, “We embrace AI as not something we simply do at UofL. AI is part of who and how we are…” It goes on to introduce the leadership of this new Cardinal Intelligence, highlight the university’s current AI innovation and address possible ethical concerns for this new entity.
However, some questions are left unanswered in terms of how this new “something” will operate, what power it will have, and arguably most important, what it actually is. The Louisville Cardinal sat down with newly appointed Director of Cardinal Intelligence Jeff Guan for answers.
What is Cardinal Intelligence?
Cardinal Intelligence will be an advisory council that guides and streamlines all AI efforts university-wide, no longer making AI integration an isolated effort.
Guan explained, “The College of Business started working with AI a few years ago, and Speed School has AI, but they’re isolated. So, we’re gonna centralize these efforts. We want to encourage innovation. We call it a central coordination, but distributed innovation.”
He hopes that establishing one entity soley responsible for AI efforts university-wide will ensure every school, office and campus service is adhering to the same policies and guidelines regarding AI.
How will it operate?
Cardinal Intelligence will report to key members of university administration like Provost Cardarelli and advise them on issues regarding AI at U of L. It will be made up of four committees, those being research, teaching and learning, operational efficiency and finally business and community engagement.
Kathryn Cardarelli, University of Louisville provost, and U of L President Gerry Bradley discuss the university’s strategic plan draft with faculty members in Strickler Hall, Aug. 28 2025. (Photo by Jai’Michael Anderson, The Louisville Cardinal)
Research will help guide what Guan described as “knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination.” Teaching and learning looks to pioneer AI’s integration into academic instruction, as well as student services. Operational efficiency will examine the ways AI can improve university function and services. Business and community engagement aims to create a bridge between students and outside partners.
Each of these committees were crafted with efficiency in mind and Guan shared an analogy to paint a picture of it. “If you plan to go to Cincinnati, you can walk,” he said. “You can ride a horse, or you can drive a car. So, depending on your final objective, you probably want to drive a car, right? So, AI is the same thing. We want to see how our operations can be improved.”
Easier partnerships, according to Guan, also come with the centralization Cardinal Intelligence aims to achieve. He shared, “[Cardinal Intelligence] pools resources at the university level. Say, for example, as a university, we’re in a much better bargaining position to negotiate with vendors, like Google.”
Cardinal Intelligence Hub: What is it?
Towards the end of the May 28 email, it was teased that U of L would be introducing a “Cardinal Intelligence Hub” where students can “learn, grow and lead with AI in the 21st century.” Guan explained that this Cardinal Intelligence Hub would be a digital one where students can find resources for AI related issues, rather than a physical building on campus.
However, he hinted that a building is not necessarily off the table, saying, “The Cardinal Intelligence hub is just going to be a website. But I do want to create a physical AI innovation hub. You never know, right?”
Application for all
When asked about how Cardinal Intelligence will engage with students outside of the College of Business and J.B. Speed School of Engineering, Guan said it may be more obvious to see how AI is used in those particular schools.
However, he feels it is still applicable to every student, A&S and beyond. He explained that AI can be used as a “thought partner” and that AI helps students and those out in the workforce become more efficient.
Power and ethics
The original message sent out to students briefly acknowledged the ethical concerns of AI integration, stating, “Ethical concerns about AI use in the classroom, research labs and offices have been and will continue to be considered as we move forward in our efforts. AI will not compromise UofL’s high standards of learning, teaching, working and – yes – thinking.”
A digitally-made graphic shows three torsos in suits with tablets reading “AI” as heads. (Graphic by Emma Posey / The Louisville Cardinal)
However, specific parameters or actions for said consideration were not explicitly stated. Guan stated that ethics, risk and governance are crucial to the adoption of AI. He revealed Cardinal Intelligence does not plan to have an ethics advisor but feels proper policy and protocol should be incorporated university-wide.
“We want to have clear guidelines and have the infrastructures there to support the use of AI in the safe environment,” he said.
How do students feel?
To see how students felt on the integration of AI at U of L, and the introduction of Cardinal Intelligence, The Louisville Cardinal spoke with Gunnar Goshorn, an Art student at U of L who had been vocal about the issue on social media. Goshorn revealed his immediate reaction, saying, “It made me very upset because there’s immediately the knowledge that our university, like many others, is willfully partnering and integrating AI within the infrastructure of our university, of the education that is being provided. And that wasn’t a decision made by students at all, really.”
He took issue with the way Cardinal Intelligence was presented to students, noting how it was phrased as something inevitable. Goshorn stressed that U of L does, in fact, have a choice, and argued that it’s harmful to say otherwise.
“What technologies you invest in as a university, what you encourage in your students as a cultural environment; to bring AI onto our campus as a friend and partner is showcasing it as a friend to academics, and a friend to the mind. And that’s not the truth. AI is a toxin to healthy lifestyle. It is a toxin to healthy growth of the mind.”
Goshorn even shared his own personal experience of how AI was integrated into a language course he was taking at the university, arguing it “took away the experience of language-learning.”
The financial aspect stuck out to Goshorn as well. With respect to the development of a Cardinal Intelligence Hub, Goshorn said, “All of this sounds like more money being funneled into AI technology by U of L without proper consideration of where funding may elsewhere be more responsible.”
A sign signifies that art using Artificial Intelligence isn’t featured at the Amazing Art Expo, Jan. 9, 2026. (Roxy Osborne / The Louisville Cardinal)
Speaking out on this issue was important to Goshorn and directly tied back to his identity as an artist.
Generative AI takes from artists, scholars and creators to then regenerate an AI version of whatever is being prompted. He believes it’s important to continue to speak out on these issues, and even channel it into one’s work.
“We’re having our own livelihood in labor stolen from us by robots who work for companies that we have no stake in and our university honestly shouldn’t have any stake in either,” he said. “Keep making artwork that loudly critiques and noticeably is pointing towards our university as a part of the problem.”
Student voice in Cardinal Intelligence
When asked about the precedent set in the May 28 email claiming failure to adapt to AI is “not an option,” Guan reiterated the inevitability of the issue.
“The evidence is that we are moving into an AI-enabled society and economy,” he said. “And we are in the business of developing tomorrow’s workforce. So therefore, our student’s ability to function in that kind of environment is really important to us.”
He went on to say that the university respects students who don’t believe in AI, and in some cases, it is a better learning experience for students to not use AI.
However, it is the university’s belief that AI is a useful tool; “Don’t think of AI as the end goal. AI is going to be part of life. We still want to go about our life achieving our goals like we always have.”
Following the interview, Guan later shared with The Cardinal that Cardinal Intelligence plans on having both graduate and undergraduate student representatives on their teaching and learning committee, and possibly on the business and community engagement committee as well.
Feature Image by Emma Posey / The Louisville Cardinal
