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Universities ‘must adapt to AI’

Image: Mike MacKenzie [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr

EU should also invest more in artificial intelligence research, university group says

Higher education institutions will have to adapt their learning, teaching and assessment processes to account for the growing availability of artificial intelligence tools to students and other users, according to the European University Association. 

The group of more than 800 higher education institutions warned its members on 14 February that banning the use of AI tools would be “completely futile”, despite concerns about use of the technology within academia, such as lack of references to sources of information and biases in data and algorithms.

ChatGPT and other similar AI tools have sparked concern among educators in recent months over their potential to affect learning, teaching and student assessment, the EUA pointed out.

But it said there are also “numerous” potential benefits of AI for academic work, including improved efficiency, personalised working and new ways of learning.

“The higher education sector must adapt its learning, teaching and assessment approaches in such a way that AI is used effectively and appropriately,” the EUA said in a position paper.

It urged universities to explore the responsible use of AI tools while considering their legal framework and the broader consequences for society, culture and the economy.

Institutional policies on AI should be updated and guidance on day-to-day use of AI should be developed, the EUA said.

More research funding needed

On the same day, the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities called on the EU to invest more in fundamental research into AI and digitisation generally.

It said that Europe is “still lagging China and the US, among others, in terms of digital technologies”, and that without pursuing knowledge in these areas it will struggle to be globally competitive.

Jan Palmowski, secretary-general of the Guild, flagged Google’s new AI chatbot and Microsoft’s recent decision to introduce the OpenAI chatbot into its search engine as “evidence of how AI will dominate our everyday lives”.

“If we want our digital future to be determined not by the strategies of private companies but by the public interest and the values Europeans hold dear, we must invest in research,” he said.