As 52% of students don’t end up in work even remotely related to their degree subject and career advice is woeful, they know, more than the institutions they’re educated in, how the world is changing, understand that AI is important and doing something about it.
They really are using this technology in anger to learn:
55% grads said their educational program did not prepare them to use GenAI tools.
The reasons for this are clear. Education is highly institutionalised in terms of structures, timetables, funding, quality control and embedded practices. It is these deeply embedded practices, strict hierarchies, bottlenecks and bureaucracy that make it difficult to adapt to new realities. One such reality is AI.
Even worse, their reaction is often to simply reject out of hand, categorise it as cheating or get obsessed about fictional ethical issues. After 40 years in the learning technology game I’ve seen it many times before, with email, photocopiers, calculators, computers, internet, word processing, social media, smartphones, recording lectures…
Yet what this data shows is that these students will emerge into a world where the data already shows massive use of AI. It is fast becoming an essential skill, yet little attempt is made to recognise this or do anything about it. Even worse, it is often demonised to the point of being restricted.
59% of employers say AI has caused them to prioritise different skills when hiring.
Even when we see this dramatic swing in the workplace, we still don’t react. Huge numbers of people are using GenAI when applying for jobs or skilling themselves in using the tools. They know it gives them edge. Why not listen to what is happening - read the research, look at the data.
48% of students say courses were offered to help them learn how to use GenAI
To be fair we’re in a twilight zone, or what Dan Fitzpatrick calls a ‘liminal’ zone’, stuck between the old and new. The first reaction in institutions is usually to deliver a ‘course’. That’s is fair but not the real solution.
Yet many are making the effort to embed AI in the educational system. This is mostly in the US but also some notable examples in other countries. There’s a slew of Universities in the US that have heartily embraced the technology and prepare their students for an obvious dimension of the future.
55% of colleges/learning programs discouraged GenAI use
Sadly, there’s the laggards, still stuck is caricaturing AI as some sort of cheat code in their game, for that is what much of this has become, a cat and mouse game on assessment. I understand that it takes time to get to grips with new stuff, but the revulsion and constant moralising, is damaging the future prospects of your learners. I expected fear and loathing in Las Vegas, not our Universities.
51% students say pace of technology making them second-guess their career
This is interesting and heartening. Young people recognise that the system is not helping them and are doing it for themselves, rethinking what they need and want to do. Sure they’re worried about their future, but understand that they have to be part of the real world not just the world of just lectures and essays.
Conclusion
It is important to track the data on use and attitudes as this allows us to readjust for the future. It is perhaps utopian or at least impractical, to expect institutions to change fast but the good news is that tech-savvy young people are doing it anyway.
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