If this week’s Stargate announcement of a $500 billion US AI infrastructure investment didn’t underscore this enough: we have entered the age of AI. Just in my own life this week, I conversed with ChatGPT on Azure AI architecture design for WaldoGPT and took a ride to a bar in a Waymo self-driving car. AI (generative and beyond) can be found not just in new consumer chatbots and technology gadgets, but in predictive models in critical industries that affect our everyday lives, including health care, finance, education, automotive, environmental science, and many more. Today, AI is pervasive—but it’s not always intuitive, accessible, or being used responsibly. Is the average college graduate adequately prepared to steward these new technologies that lie around every corner of not just the workplace, but day-to-day life?
What should higher education’s role be in preparing students for an AI world? In my opinion, in general, the role of higher education in 2025 starts from a place of teaching individuals how to think, communicate, and analyze knowledge. In particular, this ability to think critically leads to individuals who are adaptable, who can create value, and who know how to learn. Higher education should instill in its students a resilient capability to be successful and self-sufficient. Today that includes preparation for an AI world. AI usage is a critical skill in the current workplace.
As an AI practitioner myself, I admit a certain bias toward these topics. My outlook on AI tools is largely positive. I believe AI, in one form or another, is here to stay. Now, it may take different forms – I think it’s quite possible generative AI could fade away and new types of AI could take over (so do others, including Meta’s VP & Chief AI Scientist, Yann LeCun). Applying the previously stated philosophy to AI, then, what does it look like for a higher education institution to instill a long-term capability to successfully navigate an AI world?
In a brief published earlier this month, the Office of Educational Technology (OET) published five recommendations related to AI, with the fifth recommendation for institutions to “Review, refine, and supplement program offerings in light of the growing impact of AI on future jobs and career opportunities.” Preparing future engineers and AI practitioners is certainly needed when billions are being poured into AI investment. However, preparation in AI literacy for the broader student population is still highly warranted. The OET brief continues with: “Institutions should also begin equipping students from all disciplines with the AI literacy skills (i.e., the knowledge and skills to understand, use, and evaluate AI systems critically, promoting safety and ethics), and AI-specific courses they are likely to need for their careers.” The specific methodology for AI literacy instruction has a less clear implementation strategy across higher education.
While some institutions are starting with cross-departmental AI electives, others are taking a more comprehensive approach. Earlier this month, SUNY announced it will update its required information literacy curriculum to include AI literacy for all undergraduate students starting in the fall 2026 semester. American University’s Kogod School of Business is “ensuring every single student—regardless of their major, interests, or intended industry—will graduate with a holistic understanding of AI and be equipped to lead in a business world dominated by it.”
Shawn VanDerziel, the president and CEO of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), shares this view in a recent Inside Higher Ed piece: “To level the playing field and ensure that there aren’t students who are being left behind with AI, we need to integrate [it] throughout disciplines and throughout the curriculum.” The University of Florida, The Tambellini Group 2024 Future Campus Award grand prize winner, champions an “AI Across the Curriculum” approach, offering AI education in all its colleges. Courses are imbued with AI literacy education and focus on four key student learning outcomes: to know and understand AI, to use and apply AI, AI ethics, and to evaluate and create AI.
In my opinion, this holistic approach is the right one. All students do not need to know the intricate mathematical details of the current AI paradigm, generative AI. Instead, students should be prepared to recognize tools and systems that are driven by AI, identify AI-generated content, and know when to question AI. Institutions should teach students the strengths and limitations of current AI technology, helping them understand when it is appropriate to use AI and when it is not. This will serve them during their work as a student and far beyond.
Students should understand the basics behind current data-driven AI algorithms that cause bias. As Rumi Chunara writes in her stellar recent piece in The Chronicle, Flaws in AI Are Deciding Your Future. Here’s How to Fix Them, “AI systems often lack input from experts who deeply understand the specific domains they are designed to influence. This oversight leads to algorithms that amplify existing biases, neglect important local contexts, and reinforce inequities.” She concludes that AI education must become a cross-disciplinary effort in order to properly equip professionals to utilize AI responsibly. I couldn’t agree more.
Engaging hands-on with AI also cannot be understated, whether that be through institutional or public tools. Don’t assume just because students are of a younger generation, they all know how to use AI tools, as the landscape is changing rapidly. Certainly, do not assume they know how to use them optimally and responsibly. Opportunities to experiment with and build AI in sandbox environments can elevate students’ learning and broaden the technology’s accessibility—a key concern.
In summary, higher education institutions should prepare all students with holistic AI education. This should encompass a foundational knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of AI, responsible and ethical AI use, and the impacts AI may have on students’ lives and society at large. With AI usage exploding in business and society, AI literacy is needed now more than ever. Higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to educate our future leaders not just to succeed in an AI world, but to responsibly use AI for good.
Originally posted by Trevor Skelton on LinkedIn. Be sure to follow him there to catch all his great industry insights.
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