Has AI 'transformed' university for the better?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has impacted industries across the globe since its widespread emergence - fewer more so than higher education.

The ability to generate detailed information at the touch of a button has changed university studies forever - but is that for the better?

A recent survey of thousands of students across the globe found many used the technology to assist their studies, but also feared it could affect their future careers.

One told the BBC that AI had "transformed" her studies, praising it for making her "more confident" with her work.

But experts have taken a more nuanced view of its affects - with one saying that it had "both positive and negative impacts" on higher education studies.

Sunjaya Phillips, originally from Worcestershire, is a marketing communications management student at Oxford Brookes University.

The 22-year-old said she uses AI, with the permission of lecturers, to create ideas and structure essays during her studies.

Ms Phillips, who is currently on a placement year, said the technology gave her "reassurance", helping her "become more confident" with her work.

"During my second year, AI emerged a lot - especially with using it as a study buddy or to help integrate into my university work," she explained.

"At Brookes it's quite an open conversation with how to use AI and how you can use it to help with your assignment work to structure assignments or give you creative ideas."

"Sometimes with creative ideas you could be stuck for a whole day - but then when you use AI for prompts to generate ideas for you, it can do it in 30 minutes."

"It definitely transformed my academic experience," she added.

Other students have previously told the BBC about how they used AI to cheat during their studies, with one saying she "massively regretted" using the technology.

Dr Charlie Simpson, who has written pieces on AI in education, said it was "getting harder and harder to find aspects of higher education that are not touched by AI in some way".

"When used responsibly, AI tools enable students to direct their attention to the more important parts of learning and improve their self-development," Dr Simpson, who is also a senior lecturer in sport and exercise science at Oxford Brookes, said.

"However, if AI is not used responsibly within a degree course, and students outsource their thinking and development to technology just to gain a qualification, then that serves no useful purpose."

A study commissioned by student housing company Yugo recently found that 44% of UK students were excited by AI, whilst a similar proportion also used it during their studies.

Prof Keiichi Nakata, from Henley Business School, said that "as with any new technology", AI had "both positive and negative impacts" on education.

Prof Nakata is director of AI at The World of Work Institute at the school, which is part of the University of Reading, and helps organisations get to grips with the technology.

"It is positive because students now have an additional set of tools to work with when used appropriately and responsibly," he explained.

"However, if used simply to cut corners or do the work for you, then it does not help students to acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviour through their studies."

Dr Simpson said if universities were to "embrace and adapt" AI effectively, the capabilities of future graduates could "vastly exceed those of previous generations".

"The degrees of the future will be as challenging to obtain as they are now, but the capabilities of graduates will have increased, so degree standards must also increase," he said.

The Yugo research, which involved 7,274 students from across Europe, the US and Australia, found that 78% of UK students feared job losses due AI.

A separate study by Henley Business School last month found UK workers were optimistic but overwhelmed by the technology.

Ms Phillips said she was not concerned about AI related job losses, saying she saw the technology as a " system".

People need to "make a shift in the perspective of AI and how to use it to your advantage, and not see it as something that's gonna replace you," she said.

Prof Nakata said he believed that the "skill to make effective use of AI" would soon be "expected by employers, just like IT skills".

"Obviously, this will vary from industry to industry and job roles, but the ability to use suitable AI tools appropriately and responsibly to be productive at work should have positive impact on their [current university student's] career prospects," he added.

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