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Several years ago, I wrote an article that, essentially, posed this question: “Are the benefits of artificial intelligence in higher education worth the unintended consequences?” I wasn’t suggesting it would be possible to hold back the next revolutionary force in digital technology. Instead, I described a series of specific shortcomings in AI-driven systems that most leaders of bricks-and-mortar academic institutions needed to be aware of as the next big AI challenge in higher education. 

That article reflected two facts: that higher education leaders were only beginning to wrestle with AI’s practical implications and emerging challenges, and that most of those leaders viewed AI as a series of discrete problems to be solved, concerns to be addressed. Today, I know that we need to apply a broader lens: viewing AI as both a multifaceted challenge for higher education broadly and a uniquely powerful opportunity to define our individual institutions’ futures.

• Future-proof software engineering students for an AI-dominated world
• Open dialogue about AI in HE is the way forward
• Higher education needs a united approach to AI

That’s why, today, the question I’m asking is: How best can we proactively guide AI’s use in higher education and shape its impact on our students, faculty and institution? The answer to that broad, strategic question lies in pursuing four objectives that, I believe, are relevant for many colleges and universities. 

Objective 1: Ensuring that across our curriculum we are preparing today’s students to use AI in their careers – in particular, to add human skills value that enables them to succeed in parallel with employers’ expanded use of AI.

Objective 2: Employing AI-based capacities to enhance the effectiveness (and therefore value) of the education we deliver to our students, strengthening their capacity for meaningful, lifelong learning.

Objective 3: Leverage AI to address specific pedagogical and administrative challenges, ranging from improving learning outcomes to enhancing the effectiveness of recruiting strategies to managing deferred maintenance. 

Objective 4: Concretely address the already identified pitfalls and shortcomings of using AI in higher education, and develop mechanisms for anticipating and responding to emerging challenges.

I’d add a fifth objective for universities that, like Thomas Jefferson University, are academic pillars for multifaceted organisations: we should leverage our growing AI-focused knowledge and technical capabilities in ways that benefit the broader institution. In our case – Jefferson is closely integrated with a large academic healthcare system and a non-profit health insurance plan – this is something we’re doing to advance both clinical care and biomedical research.

To achieve those objectives, we must adopt two strategic attitudes that will be essential for universities –individually and collectively – to thrive in the dynamic 21st century. First, a pioneering attitude. We need to view AI as a tool at our disposal – one presenting grand opportunities – not just as a force to be reckoned with and a series of discrete problems to solve. 

Yes, opportunity involves risk, but the smartest pioneers find ways to mitigate that risk while moving forward. They find collaborators who bring capacities and resources to the table that effectively both spread and reduce the risk.

The second is a partnering attitude. Of course we all want our organisations to succeed in perpetuity. Yet it would be a mistake to assume we can succeed independently and in isolation. Mergers are one obvious option, and the merger of Jefferson’s two legacy institutions in 2017 achieved unprecedented success. But there are many more ways for higher education institutions to realise the opportunities and mitigate the risks inherent in AI. We should be exploring formal and informal partnerships across institutions, sectors, industries, localities and nations. We should share more information and ideas, and more clearly acknowledge the problems we’re wrestling with.

Adopting these strategic attitudes will enable us to guide AI’s impact and, ultimately, position higher education to be stronger and more resilient in decades to come. In coming months, I’m going to be reaching out to other pioneering- and partnering-minded university leaders, discussing how to work together to shape AI’s role and impact on our institutions.

Susan Aldridge is president of Thomas Jefferson University.

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