Academic augmentation, disruption, or both?
The impact of AI on colleges and universities brings numerous opportunities and challenges, from personalized learning experiences to increased concerns around AI use and plagiarism.
One thing almost everyone agrees on is that it has effectively transformed academic and higher education as a whole.
Higher education has evolved significantly, embracing numerous technological advancements, from calculators and Scantron forms to personal computers and virtual classrooms with online college education.
With every new technology that impacts society and education, colleges and universities must adapt to understand the new technology’s applications and ensure campuses have the necessary equipment and instruction to incorporate it to its full potential, while protecting students and the college learning experience against its risks.
AI in academia is no different; however, the emergence of generative AI and AI-powered tools has been so widespread and rapid that many institutions of higher learning are still struggling to keep pace with their students.
A 2024 study found that 46.9% of students are already using AI or LLMs in their college studies and coursework.
Yet, just under about 20% of college presidents have published plans regarding AI policy.
The second thing most educators, administrators, and students can agree on is that AI is here to stay — and it’s time to live with it, learn with it, and teach with it.
In this article, we’ll cover the ways AI is impacting colleges and universities, and how some universities are addressing both the benefits and drawbacks.
As in any industry, artificial intelligence has the potential to maximize time and boost productivity and personalization in academia.
When transparent and comprehensive AI policies are in place and well communicated, AI tools can bring several advantages to both faculty and students:
When used ethically and transparently as a tool, AI brings a multifaceted positive impact on education in colleges and universities.
But as with any powerful tool, artificial intelligence brings its potential drawbacks, especially when misused:
For colleges and universities, these challenges are different from those brought by previous technological advancements because it’s less a matter of “Do our students have the tools they need?” and more a matter of “Students and faculty are using these tools already—how do we provide guardrails and guidance?”
Students and faculty at colleges and universities worldwide are already actively using AI. The conversation in academia isn’t about how to stop the advancement, but instead how to guide the transformation, even if it means first catching up.
Every time major advancements change society, education must follow suit.
The impact of AI in academia is already here and advancing more each day.
The goal of colleges and universities is to find balance in how AI can potentially enhance learning, strengthen critical thinking, and promote skill development, while upholding academic integrity.
As institutions work on incorporating the positive applications of AI and designing comprehensive policies for responsible AI use, having the right tools can support transparency and accountability.
Tools like the Originality.ai Moodle Plugin and Originality.ai Academic model for educators can help quickly and accurately detect AI-generated content, fostering honest conversations about its appropriate use as policies continue to evolve.
Learn more about the AI in education:
AI-generated content is everywhere, thanks to the growing sophistication of generative models and large language models (LLM). You will now find many online platforms that claim to generate entire articles ten times faster than the speed of a human writer. As the race for scaling your content production increases, so too does the ability of
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