Artificial intelligence in higher education

We discuss the environmental implications of mass GenAI adoption across higher education and why universities are failing to account for its use in their quest to reduce carbon emissions

Detectors can help pinpoint where image manipulation is occurring but should not be seen as a ‘universal truth machine’, experts say

Threatening sanctions for unauthorised AI use is having no impact on rampant student cheating. Only a ban can save critical thinking in classrooms, says Deborah Rogers

Amid all the debates about student employability and academic integrity, the question of how AI mandates square with universities’ commitments to addressing climate change has been largely neglected. Juliette Rowsell reports

Surge in generative AI use in US federal grant proposals is reducing diversity and narrowing the scope of ideas, study finds

Rather than relying on an annual survey, governance procedures need regular intelligence on AI developments, says Nick McIntosh

Acceptance is not surrender. It is about getting beyond a policing obsession and rethinking what assessment aims to measure, says Shadi Mohamed

Tens of thousands of applicants will have to redo tests after anomalies in entrance exam scores at National Autonomous University of Mexico

Several universities have committed to giving everyone access to latest technology, but expert says a more nuanced approach is needed

Among the elements of the shared core grammar all students need, mathematics and philosophy deserve special mention, says Manu Kapur

Universities are fusing the world’s oldest discipline with one of its newest innovations. But ensuring a balance between learning technical skills and tackling big questions takes work

Artificial intelligence is already having a huge impact on research, and the technology is advancing so quickly that some suggest it could soon be capable of directing its own research programmes. But will human input ever become truly obsolete, Jack Grove asks several Nobel laureates

Country leads way in producing highly cited papers but overall share of publications drops

The rush to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in scholarly inquiry looks like a defence of intellectual craft. In reality, it’s an act of institutional self-preservation, says Ian Richardson

Almost one-third of students report not using AI at all in their studies, while non-native English speakers at UK universities are among those relying on the technology regularly

New technologies making academic fraud ever more common and sophisticated

Half of all students’ work assessed by company’s detection tools shows ‘at least some’ evidence of AI writing

For those without digital and cultural capital, AI is a dangerous helper whose use is liable to land them in hot water, says Rituparna Patgiri

Given AI’s ubiquity in the workplace, some believe that students should now be assessed on their aptitude in working with it. But others insist employers are still more interested in innate ability – and rampant undeclared AI use demands the revival of traditional ways of testing it. Juliette Rowsell reports

Rapid development of technology outpacing any attempts to reform assessment system, researchers warn

Anxious students offer rich pickings for those offering to check their AI-likelihood scores, say Benjamin Luke Moorhouse and James Mian Jia

Publishers must stop treating AI governance as an ethical burden to be outsourced to those already overburdened and under-rewarded, says Mai Zaki

Rampant technology considered both essential knowledge and an employability threat, survey finds

We have produced a generation who believe their own thinking is not good enough unless it sounds like a machine, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

In the four years since its commercial launch, generative artificial intelligence has had a profound impact on personal and professional life. But are academics enthusiasts or sceptics? Five scholars explain how the technology has affected their own practice – for good and bad

Universities piloting the use of AI tools in assessment identify ‘tension’ in determining correct role for academics to play

Audit of all UK institutions reveals lack of coordination in how student AI use is being managed, with 40 per cent lacking any public policy

Rise in top marks was most prevalent when students completed written tasks at home, says University of California, Berkeley scholar

Research integrity experts commend arXiv’s crackdown on bogus AI-written citations but warn it may be impossible to police at scale

Universities still sending mixed messages, with survey finding even split between those who feel encouraged and discouraged to use new technologies

Loss for the publishing giant in its legal action over AI crawling will make it much harder for scholars to assert control on how their outputs are used, say experts

Automation may be used as an excuse to cut further posts, experts warn, even if it isn’t capable of replacing academics

Withdrawal of education papers by British Education Research Association is long overdue, says integrity campaigner who argues more retractions are needed

Concerns that UK universities not preparing students adequately as annual survey shows big rise in performance-related issues among recent hires

AI glasses and other smart apparel may be impossible to keep out of exams, adding to universities’ woes about the future of assessments

Students expected to use AI for information before evaluating technology’s output as institution seeks to prepare learners for changing labour market

Informal applications of AI, such as academics using tools to grade student work, could potentially fall foul of wide-ranging legislation, policy expert warns

Patchy uptake of new technologies across region, survey finds, with limited connectivity a potential barrier

London School of Innovation set to launch in June after being given stamp of approval by regulator

Political ambition is not enough. Stable funding, coherent regulation and realistic institutional differentiation are also vital, says Kyuseok Kim

Expert says ‘coordination problem’ leaves degree courses out of sync with business needs

Calls to ditch AI because it is destroying students’ analytical skills ignore institutions’ questionable record at developing complex reasoning, says Ian Richardson

Some of the most important questions around accuracy, bias, authorship and appropriate use might not be immediately visible, says Santa Ono

Teacher-turned-sleuth Stephen Vainker warns rise of chatbot language in journals will further erode school confidence in education faculties

The brief launch of an app promising to attend students’ lectures as well as write their assignments caused some academics to despair at a dystopian near-future in which learning becomes a pointless sham. But others believe the abyss can be bypassed. Juliette Rowsell reports

The issues concerning AI and copyright are far more complicated than the ‘Big Music v Big Tech’ paradigm presented in the media, says Benjamin White

Academics raise concerns over ChatGPT owner’s links to US military and claim tools are ‘looking to replace knowledge workers’

If AI amplifies what you bring to it, the liberal arts mission of developing critical thinkers becomes not nostalgia but practical necessity, says Nicholas Creel

Full automation may be possible in narrow cases, but it is neither realistic nor desirable as a general model, say Bashir M. Al-Hashimi and Nick Jennings

‘Expert review’ function that promises feedback ‘inspired by’ work of well-known scholars faces growing backlash over claims it ‘misrepresents views’

Latest survey of UK undergraduates’ attitudes to new technologies shows little agreement on whether huge increase in usage has been a good thing

Humans’ epistemic arrogance belies the fact that subject knowledge is always incomplete and cognitive bandwidth is strictly finite, says Prince Sarpong 

If we treat AI as a purely rational evolution of human intelligence, we risk repeating colonial erasure on a digital scale, says Agnieszka Piotrowska

We cannot bureaucratise our way into producing better thinkers, any more than we can automate wisdom, says Akhil Bhardwaj

New tool promising to watch lectures and complete assignments for students abruptly taken down amid concerns about cheating and data protection

Universities encouraged to develop new sites in flagship Northern Metropolis development, backed by increased government funding

Worries over admitting ChatGPT use for editing and drafting may explain extremely low disclosure rates, study suggests

Partnership with ETS will replace 20-year-old traditional entry exam with modular, skills-based assessment as part of bid to modernise national system

Framing this technology as a helpful ‘tool’ disguises how much it guides every element of critical thinking that academics seek to cultivate, says James Garvey

Increased use of new technologies accompanied by rising fear of being accused of cheating, with many universities’ policies on what is acceptable still unclear