The 5th Industrial revolution - The raise of Machines - Artificial Intelligence and Higher Education

Two waves and the fifth industrial revolution

                                                              Image adopted from: What is AI? What does artificial intelligence do? - BBC Newsround

First Wave - COVID-19

COVID-19 in 2020 has brought a golden opportunity for the HE sector to embrace new and innovative teaching and learning methods and, to some extent, adopt modern technologies onboard in the teaching and learning and design of curriculum. The sector was fast in adopting the changes. Traditional lecturing joined history in less than a couple of years, and educators used a more student-centred approach to teaching and learning. However, despite quickly adapting to modern teaching and learning methods, the sector has yet to do much with assessments except replace exams with online submissions and have some tests and quizzes synchronously or asynchronously. 

Second wave - AI & ChatGPT

In November 2023, Openai.com launched ChatGPT, a generative language model which can write human-like high-quality documents. That brought a real shock into assessment across HEIs. COVID-19 in 2020 left the sector with no choice but to shift from traditional and passive teaching methods to more interactive and hybrid models. Now, just three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, AI and Chatbots are forcing the sector to update and refresh assessment methods across University programmes. Average students could complete a 2000-word essay in about 30 minutes if (s)he asked clever and well-designed prompts (questions for chatbots). 

The Authenticity era

The sector has to avoid traditional assessments, which rely heavily on written submissions and essays. AI-proof assessment tasks rely on something other than writing. They are not standalone and atomized assessment points and are not testing the product. And that took us towards the future of teaching, learning and assessment in higher education. The AUTHENTICITY era in higher education.