GenAI changes higher education

Several higher education institutions (HEIs) have already adopted unique approaches to the use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI). For example, USA-based Haverford College (Harper 2024)  with its well-established honor code, fosters an environment where ethical considerations are prioritized, ensuring that GenAI is used responsibly and aligned with educational values. Students’ commitment to an honor code creates a foundation where GenAI is perceived as a useful ally guided by ethical principles. 

Not all HEIs have equal opportunities: factors such as available resources, student culture, and institutional support significantly influence attitudes towards GenAI. This diversity does not mean that institutions should shy away from establishing common guidelines for GenAI use. On the contrary, creating common standards is one way of starting to build consistent and ethical approaches across diverse educational environments. Overall, HEIs need to focus on pedagogical and organizational development in this new era of AI.  

In this article, we explore the disruptive change that GenAI is bringing to higher education, and how Haaga-Helia will participate in bridging the gap between theoretical possibilities and practical, real-world applications. 

GenAI redefines the role of the educator

GenAI seems to be fundamentally reshaping our understanding of knowledge and learning, forcing us to reconsider the role of education’s original knowledge worker – the educator (Pratschke 2024). The shift in knowledge creation, production, and dissemination transforms the educator’s role. GenAI can enhance learning and assist educators in many ways and, at the same time, requires new skills and heightened caution. As a technology, GenAI is moving education away from serving knowledge and towards supporting, for example students’ critical thinking, effective learning processes, and intrinsic motivation. 

In this regard, future learning environments will operate in human-machine symbiosis (Web 4.0), with educators no longer positioned as the authorities, but as facilitators of knowledge acquisition. To embrace this shift effectively, institutions must invest in professional development for educators, equipping them with the necessary skills to thrive in AI-integrated environments. 

GenAI is perceived as both a savior and a source of new challenges in education. Its ease of use can lead to concerns such as plagiarism, while, its effective usage requires specialized skills. Balancing these tensions is important to leverage GenAI’s potential responsibly. 

An entangled system of humans and technology 

Unlike previous tools such as calculators or Wikipedia, GenAI’s ability to generate human-like text means that traditional forms of teaching and assessment will be fundamentally and irreversibly disrupted by AI (Hodges & Kirschner 2024).   

Furthermore, we humans are deeply social creatures, and tend to look for and find human features in other beings and materials, anthropomorphism (Salles, Evers & Farisco 2020). We even think that square-shaped food delivery robots possess human-like attributes or that emojis mimic our facial expressions. Unlike these technologies, GenAI possesses human-like qualities. It interacts with us, simulates empathy and interests behavior, and even argues or surprises us, increasingly blurring the lines between machines and humans.  

Moreover, GenAI and humans form a collaborative, entangled entity. Humans and everything material around us form a socio-material dynamic entity where technology and humans reciprocally interact, and in that interplay, affordances that affect human behavior emerge. (Pentzold & Bischof 2019.)   

Similarly, AI-enhanced Web 4.0, the latest form of internet development, and education 4.0 are evolving hand in hand. Web 4.0 opens an era where web is symbiotic, ubiquitous and even pervasive – far from the original idea of serving as the digital warehouse for knowledge. In Education 4.0 that means, for example, tailored student experience, flexible materials, and e.g. new interaction possibilities.  (Miller 2023.)  

Therefore, there is an urgent need for more research to understand the growing changes that GenAI represents in the education field and learning everywhere. The development is so intense that we have yet to uncover all the consequences of AI in the educational field. As we accumulate experience, new possibilities and questions arise, and AI and related technologies continue to evolve, demanding that we keep engaged in this dynamic field. 

GenAI’s role in higher education raises several critical areas of research. First, understanding the implications of AI (sensemaking) is essential as technology evolves. Second, AI’s ability to bypass genuine learning challenges assessment integrity, calling for a reassessment of evaluation practices. Third, to ensure deep learning, assessment methods must be redesigned to utilize AI’s potential while minimizing misuse. Finally, integrating AI into teaching and learning requires careful research to preserve the development of analytical and critical thinking skills. (see Lodge et al. 2023.) 

Applied research to help HEIs navigate the AI landscape

Haaga-Helia is already playing a strong role in this movement, with over 30 research and development projects focused on applied AI in education and business in various sectors.  In addition, Haaga-Helia is part of the Ulysseus European University together with seven different partners across Europe. Within the Ulysseus context Haaga-Helia has recently established a joint interdisciplinary research group on Applied AI in Education. The group is composed of junior and senior researchers from each partner university.  

The Applied AI in Education research group aims to address the challenges and opportunities of AI for higher education, including GenAI, through international collaboration in joint research projects and high-impact research publications. By collaborating internationally, we can empower educators and institutions to navigate this new landscape GenAI is introducing to us to in a meaningful and sustainable way. We are bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice. 

Picture: Shutterstock