Mthobisi Nozulela|Published
Universities risk undermining students’ ability to think for themselves if they adopt artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching without fully understanding its impact.
The warning was raised at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) fourth Innovations in the Science of Teaching and Learning Conference, held recently at the Elangeni Hotel in Durban.
More than 300 academics and students from different disciplines attended the conference to discuss how universities should respond to the growing use of AI and other challenges facing higher education.
UKZN's Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Teaching and Learning, Professor Thabo Msibi, said universities could no longer rely on the same approaches to teaching as the world around them continued to change.
“When the world changes, teaching and learning cannot remain unchanged,” Msibi said.
He said universities needed to take a more human-centred approach to teaching and learning, while also looking at how different disciplines could work together to address the challenges facing society.
Concerns over AI in the classroom
Professor Wayne Holmes of University College London warned that universities were adopting AI in education too quickly, without enough evidence of its benefits, safety and impact on students.
“On the surface of it, AI is amazing, but the reality is far different,” he said.
He called for greater regulation and warned that the benefits universities gained in the short term could lead to long-term problems if the risks were not properly understood.
Professor Oscar Koopman, Acting Dean of the Faculty of Education at Stellenbosch University, said AI was changing how students learned by taking on tasks such as reading, interpreting information, comparing ideas and writing.
He said that while the internet had made information easier to access, AI could now provide answers before students had worked through problems themselves.
Koopman warned that students risked losing valuable learning experiences if they relied on AI instead of developing their own understanding.
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