the roamerMay 30, 2025

An observation on AI hype in higher education.

My university (Russell group) is part of the hype. In committees, I found myself isolated when raising criticism. Endless seminars and workshops on how to make innovative uses of genAI in teaching, in assessment, in tutoring. Revolting. I decided not to fight an unwinnable battle and instead I merely protect my own courses from the poison.

Just a few months later, the tone has changed. Many of the most excited pro-AI voices now share articles that have "bullshit" in the title, or share AI-critical messages they sent to their students.

Reality always wins.

GenAI corrupts students' learning, and sooner or later this can no longer be ignored. These enthusiastic colleagues re-think AI once they have marked 100 essays of inauthenticity.

This may not yet be the bubble bursting, but it's an encouring sign and much sooner than expected. And it goes some way to restore my faith in the profession.

#noAI #HigherEducation #AcademicChatter

Show threadFlorian Ernotte
@the_roamer I think you are right. Students don't need to take shortcuts in their learning curve. And it's definitely important to stay away from AI in an area you don't master. But what do you think about AI use in an area you’ve mastered? Does it make sense to enhance ourselves with tools to delegate knowledge and better think the unknown?
Jun 6, 2025 at 7:09amMastodon for Android
Show threadthe roamerJun 6, 2025

@floernotte

I am a bit of a non-AI extremist myself, but I know that many creative and intelligent people find that some AI tools help them to be more creative and more intelligent in their field of expertise.

Myself, I like to keep in touch with the materiality of everything I do, and for me, personally, even repetitive preparatory tasks are part of the creative process. :-)