AI's boost for students and teachers in higher education

The use of artificial intelligence impacts every industry and sector of society, including news, gaming and fashion. And academia is no exception. Colleges and universities are adapting to new ways of enrolling, teaching and retaining students with AI technology.

Part of the motivation is that "with fewer college-age students in the pipeline," universities need to "employ even more sophisticated enrollment-management strategies to fill their classes," Best Colleges reported. But while many schools are embracing the new technology, others are wary of its drawbacks.

Benefits for students

Students entering college who need financial assistance can use RaiseMe. This AI tool provides access to "micro-scholarships," which can be earned through achievements aside from good grades including "club involvement, sports, volunteer activities and the like," according to Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative. "For each achievement, students are awarded more that can be applied to the cost of attending college."

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Once in school, artificial intelligence can help students with time and financial management. "AI-generated emails can remind students about important deadlines, prompt them to register for classes, turn in assignments and pay their fees on time," reported Forbes.

And for those finishing their studies, AI can assist with graduating on time and entering the workforce, according to Best Colleges. Using an AI resume builder can assist college grads with landing a job, per Tom's Guide.

Benefits for teachers and administrators

Schools are finding benefits in both student retention and teaching. Nova Southeastern University uses Aible to identify students who are most likely to leave the school and "prioritize its retention efforts for the most at-risk students," according to Forbes. And Georgia Tech uses a virtual teaching assistant known as Jill Watson.

The AI tool Packback offers real-time responses from teachers. The technology "helps instructors moderate class discussions, give feedback and grade participation automatically," Harvard Advanced Leadership Initivate reported. This allows students to know their current academic standing in a course, giving them an opportunity for improvement where needed, stated Entrepreneur.

"The less students need educators to be the main source of knowledge, the more educators can focus on developing the ability to curate, guide, critically assess learning," Vriti Saraf, the CEO and founder of K20 Educators, told the World Economic Forum. This can "help students gain skills that are so much more important than memorizing information."

Enabling and detecting plagiarism

According to Forbes, "In a particularly controversial use, AI-based software is increasingly able to detect plagiarized assignments." At Florida Gulf Coast University, the dean of students office began to "tag academic misconduct cases for instances of generative-AI usage, and an explicit syllabus statement [was] generated for faculty use to prevent cases of unauthorized assistance," according to the office's June agenda, as reported by the Pensacola News Journal.

A former student at the University of Bristol used ChatGPT on an old essay as an experiment and received a 65%. In response, a spokesperson for the university told BBC News that "ChatGPT's unauthorized use, like that of other chatbots or artificial intelligence software, would be considered a form of cheating under our assessment regulations." Steve West, the vice chancellor at the University of the West of England, put it simply: "Don't take the chance."