A call for an interdisciplinary ethical foundation for GenAI governance in higher education

Abstract

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) systems are increasingly embedded in higher education, shaping writing, instructional design, and institutional approaches to academic integrity. In response, universities have developed policies, ethical guidelines, and detection tools; however, most approaches frame governance primarily as compliance—focusing on technical reliability, permissible use, and policy enforcement—while neglecting users’ moral agency, cognitive engagement, and responsibility. This perspective article introduces the TPPP Nexus, an interdisciplinary framework integrating Technology, Pedagogy, Philosophy, and Psychology as the normative and cognitive foundation for GenAI governance in higher education. Integrating insights from virtue ethics and moral philosophy, as well as cognitive and motivational psychology, the framework reconceptualizes governance as an emergent, human-centered practice shaped by ethical reasoning and human behavior, rather than by algorithmic sophistication or instructional design alone. Technology enables GenAI use, pedagogy guides everyday academic application, philosophy grounds ethical judgment and responsibility, and psychology illuminates cognition, motivation, and agency in human–GenAI interaction. The TPPP Nexus demonstrates that ethical GenAI governance should go beyond policy compliance and detection tools to cultivate reflection, intellectual integrity, and ethical resilience among learners and educators. By advancing a human-centered, interdisciplinary model, this perspective invites higher education to approach GenAI governance not only as institutional oversight but as a shared moral and educational responsibility that fosters human flourishing in the age of GenAI.