7/11/23, 9:44 Integrating Generative AI into Higher Education: Considerations | EDUCAUSE Review

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Integrating Generative
AI into Higher
Education:
Considerations
Charles Hodges and Ceren Ocak Wednesday, August 30, 2023
Teaching and Learning

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Integrating AI into higher education is not a futuristic vision

but an inevitability. Colleges and universities must adapt
and prepare students, faculty, and staff for their AI-infused
futures.

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Credit: Deemerwha studio / Shutterstock.com © 2023

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a

topic of interest and concern for many aspects of society.
Government and industry are embracing generative AI.
Several reports predict that AI will result in job losses,
become essential to some existing jobs, and lead to the
creation of new AI-related jobs. One city in Japan is using
ChatGPT to help run the government, and there are already
several AI applications in the health care industry.
Generative AI tools could result in widespread changes to
the workforce and the education sector.1

Generative AI is a particular form of machine learning that

takes a set of samples as input and learns from those
samples to generate new content.2 ChatGPT, developed by
OpenAI, and Bard, an AI experiment by Google, are
examples of generative AI tools trained on massive text data
to create novel, human-like text responses.

The introduction and adoption of generative AI may seem

rapid, but the technology is not as new as it is commonly
perceived to be. Technologically advanced AI tools like

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ChatGPT and Bard have been in our lives and workflows for
some time. For example, the Associated Press has been
using AI to automate stories since 2014.3 Although
generative AI has been around for almost a decade, it didn't
really take off until "the latter half of 2022 when the
technology was put into the hands of consumers with the
release of several text-to-image model services like
MidJourney, Dall-E 2, Imagen, and the open-source release
of Stability AI's Stable Diffusion."4 More ubiquitous
examples of AI applications include autocorrect, grammar
check, and suggested email replies. The underlying
technologies for these tools may differ, but the results are
the same for the general end user: the technology provides
automated text suggestions for the user to consider.

While there are many issues surrounding generative AI, such

as ethical concerns, copyright and intellectual property
questions, and biases within the training data, this article
will focus on the integration of generative AI into higher
education teaching and learning.

Higher education institutions—recently rocked by the

COVID-19 pandemic and fearing the effects of the
enrollment cliff—are now faced with a new disruption:
generative AI. Colleges and universities have generally been
slow to adopt change. In the not-so-distant past, other
technological tools have been met with consternation in the
classroom setting. For example, calculators were banned
from classrooms, and Wikipedia was considered an
unreliable source to avoid. And while calculators and
Wikipedia may not be fully integrated into every classroom,
they do not draw the same ire as they did in the past.
Generative AI is different from these innovations. AI is not a
device that can be banned, it is not a source that students
can be instructed not to use, and its use cannot be

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discovered with crude plagiarism detection tools. This new

technology will be difficult to avoid. It is already being
integrated into tools that students and faculty use, such as
Grammarly, Google Docs, and Microsoft Word.
SpringerNature (a major academic publisher) permits
authors to use generative AI as long as they acknowledge it.
5
Generative AI integration may become so ubiquitous so
quickly that students may not even realize the tools they use
incorporate it. A recent EDUCAUSE QuickPoll survey of
higher education stakeholders provides insights into the
interest and perhaps inevitability of AI integration in day-to-
day institutional work. Most of the respondents (83 percent)
believe that "generative AI will profoundly change higher
education in the next three to five years," and 65 percent
believe "the use of generative AI in higher ed has more
benefits than drawbacks."6

There is a duality of AI on many college and university

campuses. On the one hand, some higher education officials
are eager to adopt AI tools that would assist with student
recruitment and enrollment, but on the other hand, many
faculty and other institutional staff believe the use of
generative AI is a type of cheating or a breach of academic
integrity.7 What is more ethical: guiding the use of AI tools
or pretending they do not exist?

Ignoring generative AI or banning its use on the academic

side of higher education seems naïve and possibly
misguided. Shouldn't higher education institutions be
preparing graduates to work in a world where generative AI
is becoming ubiquitous? In 2022, the United Nations
Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
recommended that member states "work with international
organizations, educational institutions, and private and non-
governmental entities to provide adequate AI literacy

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education to the public on all levels in all countries in order

to empower people and reduce the digital divides and digital
access inequalities resulting from the wide adoption of AI
systems."8

How will campuses integrate these new tools into their

honor codes and academic work? The internet is beginning
to fill with recommendations on how instructors can use
ChatGPT to update their syllabi and get creative with
assignments as well as stories about how students use
ChatGPT in nearly every aspect of their lives.9 Thinking
about how these tools can or should be used feels a bit
chaotic, but rather than developing academic policies and
practices from scratch, campuses should first consider using
existing methods and resources. The following are just a few
of the methods and resources available today:

When evaluating tools and technologies

(adopting/incorporating or trying to detect AI),
consider conducting a technoethical audit of the
technologies under consideration. Introduced in 2019
by Daniel Krutka, Marie Heath, and K. Bret Staud
Willet, a technoethical audit is a critical evaluation of
the chosen technology. Such an audit explores
whether it is ethical to use the technology and what
potentially unfavorable outcomes might arise from
its use in schools.10 A technoethical audit is guided
by questions like these:
How is the environment affected by this
technology?
Is the creation, design, and use of this
technology just, particularly for minoritized or
vulnerable groups?

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In what ways does this technology encourage

and discourage learning?11
Making predictions about technology and education
is tricky at best, but considering the possible futures
of generative AI in education may help educators and
campus leaders develop a future-oriented mindset. A
recently published article by Aras Bozkurt et al.
explores "the promises and pitfalls" of ChatGPT and
generative AI and the possible implications of these
technologies on the educational landscape.12
AI and Education: Guidance for Policy Makers,
published by UNESCO, has sections, among others,
on the use of AI for education management and
delivery, learning and assessment, and empowering
teachers and enhancing teaching. UNESCO also
recently published a quick start guide for ChatGPT
and higher education that includes an overview of
how it works and how it might be used in higher
education. The guide also includes a discussion of
challenges and ethical considerations.13
As academic policies are revised or adopted, consider
what it means for a work to be a student's own.
According to the International Center for Academic
Integrity, academic integrity goes beyond the basic
concept of cheating to encompass six fundamental
values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect,
responsibility, and courage. Drawing on these values
may be helpful when creating or revising policies.
Another useful resource is an article series by Loleen
Berdahl and Susan Bens about academic integrity.
The second article in the series discusses how
ChatGPT and similar technologies "raise new
questions that complicate possible solutions to

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academic misconduct but may also offer

opportunities."14
Consider what generative AI means for assessment.
For example, Jered Borup recommends examining
"intended learning outcomes and consider[ing]
whether better, more authentic assessments could
be used instead." Frequent low-stakes quizzes may
reduce a desire to "cheat" and provide additional
benefits.15 It's important to note that creating more
authentic assessments is typically more labor-
intensive, and incorporating this type of feedback and
evaluation into courses may require class sizes,
teaching loads, or the availability of grading support
to be reconsidered.

Given how quickly AI is being embedded into technology

tools and workplaces, integrating AI into higher education is
not a futuristic vision but an inevitability. Colleges and
universities must adapt and prepare students, faculty, and
staff for their AI-infused futures. The considerations
highlighted in this article are intended to help higher
education leaders develop academic policies and practices
that enhance the quality of education, improve student
outcomes, and foster innovation. AI can also automate
administrative tasks, freeing up valuable time for educators
to focus on student engagement and critical thinking.
Acknowledging AI and its uses in higher education is a
crucial, pragmatic step toward equipping students with the
skills they need to thrive once they leave our campuses.

Notes
1. Jessie Yeung and Mayumi Maruyama, "As Japan’s
Population Drops, One City Is Turning to ChatGPT

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to Help Run the Government," CNN, April 21,

2023; Bernard Marr, "Revolutionizing Healthcare:
The Top 14 Uses of ChatGPT in Medicine and
Wellness," Forbes, March 2, 2023; Kristen Senz,
"Is AI Coming for Your Job?" Harvard Business
School (website), April 26, 2023; Will D. Heaven,
"ChatGPT Is Going to Change Education, Not
Destroy It," MIT Technology Review, April 6, 2023.
↩
2. Eben Carle, "Ask a Techspert: What Is Generative
AI?" The Keyword (blog), Google, November 4,
2023. ↩
3. "Leveraging AI to Advance the Power of Facts,"
Associated Press (website), accessed July 31, 2023.
↩

4. Matt White, "A Brief History of Generative AI,"

Medium, January 7, 2023. ↩
5. "Tools Such As ChatGPT Threaten Transparent
Science; Here Are Our Ground Rules for Their Use,"
Nature, January 24, 2023. ↩
6. Mark McCormack, "EDUCAUSE QuickPoll Results:
Adopting and Adapting to Generative AI in Higher
Ed Tech," EDUCAUSE REVIEW, April 17, 2023. ↩
7. Scott Jaschik, "Admissions Offices, Cautiously, Start
Using AI," Inside Higher Ed, May 15, 2023; Mallory
Willsea, "Embrace AI To Boost Your Enrollment
Marketing Team's Productivity," Inside Higher Ed,
April 27, 2023. ↩
8. UNESCO, Recommendation on the Ethics of
Artificial Intelligence (Paris: The United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization,
2022), 33. ↩

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9. Ryan Watkins, "Update Your Course Syllabus for

ChatGPT," Medium, December 18, 2022;Susan
Svrluga and Hannah Natanson, "All the Unexpected
Ways ChatGPT Is Infiltrating Students' Lives,"
The Washington Post, June 1, 2023. ↩
10. Daniel G. Krutka, Marie K. Heath, and K. Bret Staudt
Willet, "Foregrounding Technoethics: Toward
Critical Perspectives in Technology and Teacher
Education," Journal of Technology and Teacher
Education 27, no. 4 (October, 2019): 555–574; Daniel
G. Krutka and Marie Heath, "Is It Ethical to Use This
Technology? An Approach to Learning about
Educational Technologies with Students," Civics
of Technology (blog), Civics of Technology, March 18,
2022. ↩
11. To read about the results of a discussion around
some of these questions, see Marie K. Heath, et al.,
"Collectively Asking Technoskeptical Questions
About ChatGPT," Civics of Technology (blog),
Civics of Technology, April 23, 2023. ↩
12. Aras Bozkurt, et al., "Speculative Futures on
ChatGPT and Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI):
A Collective Reflection from the Educational
Landscape," Asian Journal of Distance Education
18, no. 1 (February 2023): 53–130. ↩
13. Fengchun Miao, Wayne Holmes, Ronghuai Huang,
and Hui Zhang, AI and Education: Guidance for
Policy-Makers (Paris: United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2021); Emma
Sabzalieva and Arianna Valentini, ChatGPT and
Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education Quick
Start Guide (Paris: United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organization, 2023). ↩

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14. International Center for Academic Integrity

(website), accessed July 2, 2023; Loleen Berdahl and
Susan Bens, "Academic Integrity in the Age of
ChatGPT," University Affairs, June 16, 2023. ↩
15. Jered Borup, "This Was Written by a Human: A Real
Educator's Thoughts on Teaching in the Age of
ChatGPT," EDUCAUSE REVIEW, March 21, 2023;
Scott Warnock, "Frequent, Low-Stakes Grading:
Assessment for Communication, Confidence,"
Faculty Focus, April 18, 2013; Lukas K. Sotola and
Marcus Crede, "Regarding Class Quizzes: A Meta-
Analytic Synthesis of Studies on the Relationship
Between Frequent Low-Stakes Testing and Class
Performance," Educational Psychology Review 33,
(2020): 407–426. ↩

Charles B. Hodges is a Professor of Instructional

Technology at Georgia Southern University.

Ceren Ocak is an Assistant Professor of Leadership,

Technology, and Human Development at Georgia Southern
University

© 2023 Charles B. Hodges and Ceren Ocak. The text of this

work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0
International License.

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Assessment and Evaluation, Future of

Higher Education, Higher Education Transformation, Policy
Development

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