Colleges must evolve in the era of AI and online education

History shows that technology is inherently paradoxical. That is, it creates new jobs and opportunities, rendering traditional practices obsolete. Steam-powered mechanisation during the First Industrial Revolution (IR) transformed textile production and transportation. This transformation laid the foundation for new industries and new factory-based employment, which reshaped economy and ushered in the modern industrial age.

Similar concerns resurfaced during the Digital Revolution. When computers spread across workplaces during 1960-1970s, a worldwide debate started that computerisation and automation would eliminate millions of office/factory jobs, leading to mass unemployment. But soon, a new era began to unfold. The Internet, IT, software, programming, and a host of new digital services and opportunities appeared on the scene. This created millions of new jobs, adding trillions of dollars to the global economy.

Now we are on the cusp of an AI-driven world, seen as the 4th major IR in human history. It is blending physical, digital, and biological worlds and transforming cognitive labor. AI is like setting the cat among the pigeons. It is disrupting industries, reshaping labour markets and occupations. The new jobs that are coming up, displacing existing ones, require vastly different skills. From automating routine and manual jobs, AI is developing complex algorithms that can predict consumer behaviour.

The real concern is that AI can increasingly perform cognitive and creative tasks, and will eventually perform physical tasks as smoothly as humans. Studies indicate that AI is likely to affect almost all jobs and transform a large share of them, substantially adding to the existing unemployment.

The technological advances are outpacing job creation, raising doubts about whether new industries and occupations can absorb those displaced. This is particularly serious when the world is already struggling to create enough jobs for a growing workforce. Mastering AI does not automatically translate into employment. With access to AI for millions, the opportunities and breakthroughs would only favour those with skill and expertise. Perhaps technological advances are pushing us to a point where most human needs can be met with less human intervention, making the creation of new jobs increasingly difficult. This situation looks fundamentally different viz-a-viz the earlier Industrial Revolutions

Under this scenario, schools will continue to play an essential role, particularly during the formative years of a child’s life when they need human interaction, guidance, and support. It plays an indispensable role in building academic foundations, instilling discipline and values, developing creativity, and preparing students for careers in higher education.

However, higher education would undergo a profound transformation. Gone are the days when teachers would wake up at dawn and spend hours preparing lectures for students. Today, the finest lectures on any difficult topic are available online, with AI now helping to explore and comprehend complex ideas.

Therefore, students will have fewer reasons to attend conventional lectures in classrooms. The challenge for higher education institutions is to redefine their own role as well as that of teachers. It is worth debating whether subject-specific teachers will remain necessary, or whether we need experts who can impart practical trainings in relevant skills.

There are arguments that universities and colleges will survive by focusing on critical thinking, creativity, ethics, philosophy, arts, and personal development. A teacher will be a facilitator to guide and mentor students. For this, teachers must possess exceptional intellectual depth and academic calibre alongside being subject expertise.

However, these are not exclusive products of higher education and cannot, by themselves, justify the existence of thousands of colleges and universities. Those pursuing higher education should already possess curiosity, creativity and critical thinking.

Higher education institutions have to justify their existence through original research, knowledge creation, and innovation with meaningful outcomes. This assumes paramount importance as AI-driven machines are increasingly capable of performing a wide range of cognitive tasks.

Higher education in India is already grappling with declining enrolment of students. Imposing buildings, classrooms, and sprawling campuses cannot justify institutional existence; there must be students in the classrooms.

Today, young people are increasingly questioning the value of a campus-based degree. Why spend years at a university, learning information and routine cognitive skills, that can be acquired online? What additional value does a university/college provide that justifies the students daily attendance on the campus?

Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), is one of the world’s largest open universities, serving millions of learners with a wide range of disciplines/courses, enabling students to attend to jobs, prepare for competitive examinations or manage familial responsibilities. It has an extensive network of regional/study centres, offering programmes, quality lectures with digital and AI-learning support. Why shouldn’t students pursue degrees from IGNOU, or why can’t other universities adopt this flexibility model?

Sensing this concern, universities of late have introduced various 4-year integrated programs, aligning them with AI to attract students directly from schools.

Design Your Degree (DYD) has become a buzzword in Jammu and Kashmir’s higher education discourse. There is a simple question: Can students in their early twenties, still in the process of discovering their interests and abilities, be expected to design an academic program for themselves that will enable them to shape their future and become job providers? Academicians, industry professionals and career specialists need to prepare a future academic pathway and identify infrastructure and raw materials to make this viable. The students’ main role is to explore the world, learn, ask questions, and identify their interests, strengths, and aspirations. University authorities cannot afford to turn a blind eye to these serious issues.

The government-run colleges constitute a major segment of India’s higher education. The government invests heavily in faculty salaries, campus infrastructure and other resources, yet desired academic outcomes often remain elusive.

Having been part of the system for three decades, I believe the main challenge lies in the quality of leadership. Change in any system comes through leaders, as they make things happen. The functioning of a system cannot be confined to salaries and postings. If individuals with no track record in teaching or research are made directors to provide feedback to bureaucrats, how can we strengthen academic standards and address institutional dysfunction? If we encourage mediocrity, it will breed mediocrity. Playing into the hands of sycophants leads us to dead ends. As we step into the AI-driven world, such practices can no longer be afforded. Merit, credentials and performance must guide all academic postings, appointments etc for building a robust academic ecosystem.