Automating Higher Education Through Artificial Intelligence?

The spectrum of how much or how little organizational processes should be automated has long been debated. As the world undergoes a digital transformation where contactless and frictionless are promoted as two aspects that should be honored, many academics are questioning both the frenetic deployment of digital transformation in learning and teaching environments (e.g., face-to-face classrooms, library and academic office spaces, and laboratories, virtual/hybrid modalities, etc.) and its corresponding validity to students. Indeed, little consultation seems to have taken place with the necessary stakeholders, such as academics, students, instructional designers and pedagogical experts, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather, discussions and decisions appear to have been reactive regarding which modalities of teaching delivery might be the best in a given context, based on operational scenarios directly linked to financials, such as student recruitment trends, and local legislative changes affecting international students. Furthermore, many academic faculty and a great number of corresponding auxiliary staff have found themselves in the unemployment queue. This paper seeks to present the possibilities that AI-based systems may bring to higher education, but in so doing, point to the harmonization required to offer the most appropriate solutions to the needs of both students and teachers, as well as university administration. Education is not a commodity, although it has been treated as one. We are not advocating for an open market which offers “free education” for all, though we wish for everyone to have adequate access to education. But we are certainly advocating for a future in which students and teachers are central to the learning and teaching environment, not relegated to a passive role nor exploited. This article uses Shiv Ramdas’ short science fiction story, “The Trolley Solution”, to work through the future possibilities of AI in higher education.