AI That Makes Higher Ed More Human

AI in higher education

Ask anyone on campus about AI, and you’ll hear some version of the same worry: that it will take the humanity out of higher education.

When we sat down with edtech and campus leaders on The Higher Ed Exchange, almost every one of them landed in the same place. Used well, AI in higher education gives people more time for the human parts of their jobs.

Nobody signed up for busywork

Andrew Graf, Chief Product Officer at TeamDynamix, works with campus service teams in IT, HR, and facilities. He calls the repetitive part of their work “toil.”

“There’s a lot of concern about AI taking the humanity out of things. The way we see it is that it’s allowing humans to be more human. You’re not born to change Active Directory permissions.”

Think about the last time you clicked through the same screens for the 20th time in a day. You weren’t using your expertise, and you probably didn’t find it fulfilling. That’s the work AI should take first.


Start with what makes learning human

Stephen Laster, CEO of Panopto, starts every AI decision with one principle.

“Learning is inherently human. It’s about this journey of struggle and discovery and mastery.”

From there, the question becomes where AI in higher education authentically helps. Stephen pointed to translation, transcription, and taking a student straight to the moment in a lecture they need, so they don’t have to scrub through an hour of video. Each one saves time and frustration without doing the thinking for the student.

He was just as clear about what to protect. Students need to struggle with an idea before they can master it and make it their own.

Give faculty a starting block

Taylor Ripley, Partner Marketing Manager at WeVideo, described a simple way to keep faculty in charge. AI takes on the heavy lifting, like reviewing every second of every video or writing every question from scratch, so instructors don’t start from a blank page. Then faculty adjust it for their students and their course.

“This is a starting block,” Taylor said, “and you can adjust and differentiate for your specific students, your specific course.”

The same goes for students. They still do the work and show what they know. AI helps them get support faster when they need it.

Relationships are the job

Ryan Lufkin, Vice President of Global Learning Strategy at Instructure, pushed back on early predictions that AI in higher education would replace teachers.

“That human connection between teacher and student, between doctor and patient. Those are so enduring and so human-centric, they’re not going to be replaced by AI.”

Matt Carlson, Gravyty’s Chief Sales Officer and a former elementary school teacher, said the same about the work of serving institutions. “We’re in a relational business,” he said. “Serving education is relational. Educators serving students is relational.”


A simple test for any AI decision in higher education

Matt shared a practice that holds up no matter how fast the tools change. Before you add AI anywhere, answer three questions:

  1. What problem are we solving?
  2. What does good look like?
  3. How will we measure it?

Then add a fourth, drawn from every conversation in the series: where does human interaction still matter most? Protect that, and let AI handle the rest.

Watch the full series on AI in higher ed

The Higher Ed Exchange features candid conversations with higher ed leaders and the partners who support them. Watch The Higher Ed Exchange on YouTube.

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