Jon Foster-Pedley, Henley Business School

A recent survey from the Digital Education Council, a global body focused on technology in higher education, found that most students (86%) are using GenAI in their studies, mainly ChatGPT, followed by Copilot; a quarter of respondents report using it every day, while half use it weekly. Students use AI tools to search for information (69%), check grammar (42%), summarise documents (33%), paraphrase documents (28%), and create a first draft (24%). And 80% of the students said their university’s integration of AI tools did not meet their expectations What does the rise of GenAI tools mean for higher education, and does it require a change in how students are assessed?

Teaching has always had to evolve in response to societal and technological developments, says Sukaina Walji, director at the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching at UCT, mentioning the calculator, or the internet. Dr Hanelie Adendorff, a senior advisor at the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Stellenbosch University, has similar views, saying AI is highlighting the fault lines in our education systems. “AI isn’t causing trouble; it’s showing us where our shortcomings are.”