AI has really shaken up perceptions of what a good education looks like and what course a student should choose in 2025.
Sure there are far more factors than AI involved, but because of the pace of change and the implications for cheating and conversely, for learning, AI has really accelerated course differentiation.
How many prospective students and parents will be duped shopping for an institutional brand rather than taking a hard look at course experience? My guess is that for 2025, the majority of undergraduates will still shop by institutional brand, perceived employer preferences and maximisation of ATAR spend.
Looking at the submissions to the Future Campus 2024 awards, it’s immediately clear that there are profound, transformative education experiences being introduced by AI enthusiasts who are improvising and leading through their own passion and initiative.
A small bunch of teaching pioneers are offering innovative learning methods, a complete re-think of assessment – essentially a reimagination of their course – but it is also painfully obvious that the majority of courses haven’t changed. Sure there is some fiddling around the edges, institutional initiatives to dip a collective toe in the water, but the education experience is really not that different to when chalk and dusters were key tools of trade for lecturers several decades ago.
University brand managers aren’t geared for this. We sell the institution as a whole, and individual courses when they need the support. But how do you sell an AI-resuscitated program in say business when you know your economics delivery is crusty and unchanged – and far more vulnerable to AI cheats? Promoting innovation in one will draw attention to the inadequacies of the other, potentially.
In the past, this hasn’t been a problem because students don’t buy pedagogy, or QILT scores or assessment security. But employers, many of whom are already experimenting with AI far more quickly than the sector, will start to ask which grads really know their stuff and which have just been trained to regurgitate a range of content less efficiently and slower than tools like ChatGPT.
This is not a case of man/woman vs machine, but rather graduate trained to use their human strengths alongside the machine vs graduate trained with capabilities that can already be delivered better by machines.
AI adoption across the HE sector is slow, but offers a range of brand advantages – and a new narrative that could cut through to value-conscious parents and students anxious about what jobs await graduates in a few years’ time.
This year’s AI awards are a start of that – recognising excellence in AI and working with researchers to build a narrative about what great innovation looks like, and what it means. We will be showcasing shortlisted applicants over the next few weeks to give you a taste of some of the great work that is underway right now.
