ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND HIGHER EDUCATION: NEED FOR SHIFT IN PEDAGOGICAL PRACTICES

The higher education sector, still recovering from the effects of the global pandemic, now faces additional challenges posed by the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies.These AI systems possess the capability to generate highquality text, images, music, and coding solutions within seconds in response to user prompts.One of the most widely accessible and popular AI-driven text generators is Open AI's ChatGPT, which was introduced in November 2022.Preliminary assessments suggest that AI-generated content often surpasses the standard pass rates for university-level assessments.Although academic integrity protocols require AIgenerated content to be appropriately cited and referenced, the efficiency, accessibility, and high quality of such materials necessitate a fundamental re-evaluation of the purpose of higher education.This shift calls for a comprehensive redesign of curricula, pedagogical strategies, and assessment frameworks.A prominent proposal within the academic sector advocates for a transition away from content memorization and recallbased assessments towards the cultivation of higher-order cognitive skills.These include critical analysis, evaluation, resilience, creativity, problem-solving, appraisal, and proficiency in both verbal communication and digital literacy.This paper provides a preliminary review of the existing literature on the subject, examining the potential Madhavi Reddy https://iaeme.