Exploring the Profound Impact of AI on Higher Education and Students: Shaping Tomorrow's Workforce

Introduction

Artificial intelligence (AI), or more specifically Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), offers a new stratum of possibilities and challenges for our already automated and digital world. As the internet has drastically changed the speed, mobility, and accessibility of information, so too is AI changing the way we process and regenerate that information. Originally, it was thought that information technology (IT) industries would be the primary beneficiaries of AI, but as AI rapidly evolves for wider applications, its impact will undoubtedly create innovative shifts to transform whole sectors of society (Rauch, 2023). With major corporations like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon investing vast amounts of finance and strategy into AI integration, it is unsurprising that many organisations, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and individuals are looking to better understand, upskill and utilise these tools (Leswing, 2023).

The broad aim of this chapter is to investigate the impact of AI on Higher Education (HE) and students to provide a framework (see Figures 1 and 4) for HEIs to better prepare wholistic responses for their organisations, staff, and students, both existing and future, for an AI integrated world. As AI interest expands, how will HE providers adapt to meet the needs of their students? How will HE providers prepare these students for future industries and jobs that may not exist, and employers who may require graduates who can demonstrate competency with AI?

Industry and education are inextricably linked; if there are changes to one, it follows that there will be changes to the other. A key objective of institutionalised education is to equip learners to develop life and industry skills. As a result, it can be argued that industry drives developments in education. As AI is heralding in what some are referring to as the fifth industrial revolution or at least a new aspect of the fourth (Daly, 2018), it is necessary to understand the impact on industry and therefore on education. AI related changes to industry mean that HE providers will look to tailor training, learning and graduate outcomes to serve industry needs. Likewise, when graduates develop skills in using AI, the capacity for innovation and development in these industries will continue to expand. While tertiary courses that focus on AI have historically been confined to the computer sciences, there is a growing need for students across multiple disciplines to become familiar with how AI can assist them, not only in their coursework, but in preparation for their future careers.

The impact of GenAI on HEIs and students discussed throughout this chapter is represented in the infographic below (see Figure 1), which lists key areas of consideration and shows the interrelationship between sectors of government, HEIs, students, and industry. While each quadrant is displayed equally in the graphic below, this framework prioritises the key areas of consideration that apply to HEIs and policy makers, as reflected in the themes discussed throughout this chapter. This infographic (Figure 1) is expanded further in the Figure 4 framework, later in this chapter.

Figure 1.

A framework for higher education institutions: Key areas of GenAI impact infographic