Collaborating to Navigate AI's Impact on Education

Where are you on the AI reaction spectrum? In my conversations with colleagues in higher ed and leaders in other sectors, I’m hearing everything from sunny optimism to total freakout. It’s understandable. We’re at the beginning of a generational shift in how we interact with technology that is already starting to reshape careers, industries, and the world.

I’m taking a positive view, convinced that AI can deliver major benefits for the way we teach and learn. But the only thing certain right now is that AI will change the future for our institutions and our students in ways that aren’t fully predictable. So how do we move forward?

Not surprisingly, I think collaboration is absolutely critical to how we approach the disruptive potential of AI.

We’re dealing with two realities at the moment. On one hand, our stakeholders, including the broader public, expect higher ed to figure out how to adapt our methods to ensure that we’re preparing students of all ages for a future in which AI touches most aspects of work and life. On the other hand, there is no way that each dean, chair, or department head can monitor every single way AI is potentially impacting their field or their institution, let alone society at large (and oh, by the way, figure it out while handling the overwhelming load of day-to-day responsibilities that already exist).

This is where collaboration becomes essential. We urgently need to find ways to convene around AI topics, support collaborative work, facilitate diffusion, and enable real-time information sharing and rapid prototyping at scale. No silos. Same team. We need to leverage our collective knowledge and creativity to help each other figure out how curricula and programs need to change to meet the AI moment. These will need to be ongoing experiences and conversations, because the shifts are going to keep happening and we need to ensure that campuses and disciplines are equipped to maintain the competitive edge graduates need for the future.

At this pivotal moment, I firmly believe that intentional, smart collaboration is the key to harnessing the disruptive potential of AI. This is not the time for siloed efforts or parallel play; the challenges and goals presented by AI are too significant and complex. They require a united front—a dedicated alliance of educators, researchers, and industry partners to ensure that AI advancements are ethically integrated and effectively utilized to enhance educational outcomes and operational efficiency.

To facilitate this, the upcoming UIA Summit is intentionally designed to provide a collaborative offsite space for strategic work, helping you find allies and forge partnerships aimed at tackling these shared challenges. We are committed to fostering an environment where you can engage in deep, strategic discussions about any range of topics, including how AI can transform education and society.

I’d love to move this conversation forward so we can lay the groundwork for long-term collaboration on AI issues in the UIA. As leaders, how are you approaching the introduction of AI as a tool to upskill students, ensuring they learn what they need for tomorrow’s economy? How are you evolving your teaching methods to incorporate the latest in AI and prepare students to thrive in an AI-enabled world? How can the UIA, through our convenings and tools, facilitate the cross-disciplinary discussions we need about AI’s impact on higher education and society?