Amid all this promise, there is great risk, too. Higher education should be careful not to confuse augmentation for substitution. Despite their impressive capabilities and potential, AI tools are no replacement for personalized advising, individualized coaching, and other forms of one-on-one student support. Human connection is at the core of what makes such support so profoundly effective — and that’s something AI is currently fundamentally incapable of replicating. At a time when students have rarely felt more lonely or isolated, inadvertently weakening those relationships can have significant consequences. Any approach to integrating AI into student support must be designed to keep these crucial human connections intact.
