In 1988, I walked onto a university campus for the first time as a student. It was Orientation Week. The atmosphere was electric – clubs recruiting, leaflets flying, and wide-eyed first-years like me soaking in the moment. Lecturers in safari suits chalked notes on blackboards.
We wrote everything by hand.
Back then, knowledge had a location. You journeyed to find it.
Today, knowledge finds you. It lives in your pocket. It finishes your sentences. It writes your essays. And students no longer ask, “Where do I go to learn?” but “Why go at all?”
That question cuts to the heart of higher education – and in the age of AI, it demands a new answer.
A Crisis of Trust and Purpose
According to research from Deakin University, only 38% of Australians believe universities prioritise education over revenue. One in three say they don’t trust the sector at all.
This isn’t a branding issue. It’s a legitimacy crisis.
The Dawkins reforms may have widened access, but they also embedded a market logic. Students became customers. Education became a commodity. Universities chased rankings, revenue, and reach.
In the process, something fundamental was obscured: purpose.
AI Has Ended the Monopoly
Enter generative AI – ubiquitous, tireless, and increasingly indistinguishable from human output.
It doesn’t just contain knowledge. It creates it. It doesn’t charge fees. It doesn’t mark your work.
It’s not uncommon these days to hear students say: “Why spend four years and thousands of dollars at university when I can learn what I need – faster and cheaper – using AI and online platforms?”
That’s not cynicism. That’s realism.
Unless we can clearly articulate what higher education offers beyond content, we risk obsolescence.
The Answer Isn’t Control. It’s Clarity.
Some institutions are tightening assessments, banning ChatGPT, escalating surveillance.
But banning AI doesn’t build discernment. It doesn’t foster wisdom. It just drives usage underground.
We need to do the opposite. We need to lean into what makes universities irreplaceable: human formation.
We are not content providers. We are meaning-makers. Not gatekeepers of knowledge, but guides to understanding.
It’s time to shift from:
- Compliance → Critical Thought
- Alienation → Belonging
- Transaction → Transformation
The Puzzle and the Pause
At orientation, I give our new students a time-based puzzle that’s been circulating online:
Which is closest to midnight?
A. 11:55 AM
B. 12:06 AM
C. 11:50 AM
D. 12:03 AM
Most students, especially when prompted to use AI, confidently select D – the numerically "correct" answer. It made sense: three minutes past midnight is clearly closer than 11:55 AM, right? Technically, yes.
But that wasn’t the point.
This wasn’t just a time problem – it was a thinking problem.
There are multiple valid ways to interpret the question:
- Mathematically, D is closest – just 3 minutes after midnight.
- Linguistically, A might be closer – if we interpret “closest to midnight” as the next midnight, then 11:55 AM is 12 hours and 5 minutes before it.
- Visually, if the answers are arranged horizontally, A might appear closest to the word midnight on the page.
So, which one is correct?
That’s not the real question.
What matters is how students approached the puzzle. When they reached for a tool – whether AI or search – they did so reflexively. They assumed it was a maths problem. Few stopped to ask: “What kind of problem is this?”
That’s the deeper challenge we face in the age of AI.
In a world flooded with instant answers, the true advantage is no longer just knowledge – it’s discernment. The ability to pause. To think before prompting.
We don’t need to stop students from using tools like ChatGPT. We need to help them use these tools well – not to bypass thinking, but to deepen it.
Because education isn’t about finding answers fast. It’s about asking better questions – and knowing why they matter.
Five Signposts for Reclaiming Purpose
- Reassert Moral Purpose
Shape character, not just competence. Prepare citizens, not just workers. - Elevate Teaching
Celebrate pedagogy. Invest in educators. Value the human presence in learning. - Embrace AI – Wisely
Equip students to use AI critically, ethically, and creatively – not fearfully. - Rebuild Belonging
Learning flourishes when students feel seen, heard, and supported. Belonging isn’t peripheral – it’s foundational. - Speak Honestly
Rebuild trust through truth, not spin. Acknowledge failure. Share the learning. Invite critique.
Closing Reflection
John Henry Newman once wrote that a university should be: “An Alma Mater, knowing her children one by one – not a foundry, not a mint, not a treadmill.”
That’s the calling we must reclaim.
In a world where AI can answer every question, students need educators who help them ask better ones – and understand why they matter.
And if we take that calling seriously, we must also ask: can the mass university – as it’s currently structured – truly serve this vision?
That’s the challenge. And the opportunity.
Vahid Chittleborough is Chief Governance & Strategy Officer at Adelaide RTO, EQUALS International.