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Employers Say Students Need AI Skills. What If Students Don't Want Them?

Colleges and universities are considering new ways to incorporate generative AI into teaching and learning, but not every student is on board with the tech yet. Experts weigh in on the necessity of AI in career preparation and higher education’s role in preparing students for jobs of the future.

Additionally, some students shared in the Irvine study that they were worried a reliance on ChatGPT could erode their critical thinking skills or make them feel “too comfortable” sidestepping learning processes, which could harm their job prospects. Afia Tasneem, senior director of strategic research at the consulting firm EAB, points to institutional hesitancy to respond to AI and a negative stigma around the tech as one reason students may be anti-AI. Ultimately, understanding where AI belongs in the curriculum requires instructors to distill to the core learning outcomes of their courses, whether that’s creative thinking, problem-solving, communication, analysis or research, says Beloit’s Lewis.

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