An international survey of university academics and students by Coursera, the massive online learning platform with 375 leading university and industry partners, has revealed highly positive attitudes towards generative AI and more than 95% make use of AI tools. But a weighty 56% fear that higher education is unprepared to handle AI. In the survey of 4,200 educators and students in India, Mexico, the United States, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, only 26% of academics said their university had an AI use policy. Two thirds (65%) of educators and students believed unregulated AI could undermine degrees. Importantly, Dr Marni Baker Stein, chief content officer at Coursera, told University World News: “We’re seeing learners run out ahead in figuring out how to use AI tools in pretty sophisticated and personalised ways to help them in their studies. The question is, how and when do universities catch up with that velocity in the learner population?”
