Unauthorized intelligence? Investigating AI use among undergraduate students toward curriculum redesign

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools are now embedded in students' everyday academic practices, making bans neither realistic nor pedagogically desirable. The central challenge for higher education is therefore not whether to use AI, but how to redesign teaching so that AI enhances learning without replacing the effortful cognitive work required to build disciplinary competence. This study examines how undergraduate students and instructors at a large public university in the United Arab Emirates engage with AI in a context where most courses have not yet been revised to incorporate these tools. Using a mixed-methods, cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 705 undergraduate students and 136 instructors across all colleges. Quantitative analyses examined the prevalence, frequency, and purposes of AI use, while qualitative responses explored ethical awareness, perceived boundaries of acceptable use, and pedagogical readiness. Results indicate widespread student use of AI for summarizing, writing, proofreading, laboratory tasks, and coding, alongside uneven understanding of when such use becomes unauthorized. Instructors reported high awareness of student AI use but inconsistent course-level policies, resulting in fragmented expectations. Both groups expressed strong support for integrating AI into the curriculum. The study argues that a stand-alone AI literacy course is insufficient. Instead, it calls for systematic, curriculum-wide reform in which each course clearly defines AI-permitted and AI-restricted tasks and incorporates strictly invigilated, AI-free assessments to ensure that foundational skills are developed before AI assistance is allowed. This approach would enable universities to adopt AI while safeguarding disciplinary learning, academic integrity, and students’ cognitive development.