Welcome to AI University

AI is transforming not only learning, but also the institutions that provide it.

What I am about to say will probably sound preposterous to anyone who is serious about higher education. However, there is at least one very compelling reason why we cannot ignore the idea of AI universities as a model for future higher education institutions.

That reason is cost.

With increasingly unfavorable funding models, universities worldwide are looking towards increasing tuition fees, executive education revenue streams and sources of external research funding to make up for the exceedingly difficult financial situation.

In the long run, however, even taking drastic measures within existing HE institutional structures and confines may not be enough in many instances.

I have previously written about the problems brick-and-mortar institutions face in the context of digital education. My post The Imperative for Rethinking Higher Education Strategy, for example, raised a number of critical questions on innovation that decision-makers should be concerned with - right now - to stay in business. I have also outlined some of the fundamental issues that need to change in higher education management.

AI truly fuels the kind of transition that is needed in higher education today. Conventional institutions already face severe competition, but it probably won't be edX, Coursera, or Udacity that will cause the next much needed shift in higher education.

Rather, I am convinced we will see AI-based universities within a couple of years, i.e., formalized educational providers, but with the same type of mission and mindset as Khan Academy. In a competitive market, institutions that succeed in incorporating AI into their mission and strategy will gain a competitive advantage.

Let’s take a look at how this might work.

A Glimpse into the Future

AI universities will probably present and sell a future where admissions are streamlined through artificial intelligence, sidestepping the inefficiencies of traditional processes. The claim will be that AI enables more individualized, context-sensitive evaluations of applicants - not to replace human judgment, but to “enhance” it.

Faculty will, predictably, be portrayed as fluent in AI tools - framed as the most efficient route to pedagogical innovation. The focus will shift from standard measures of output to more open-ended processes of learning and discovery. Professors will be positioned not just as instructors but as co-learners, guiding students through an evolving, AI-augmented curriculum. The classroom - physical or virtual - will be described as a hybrid space where human creativity and machine capabilities combine to offer a supposedly superior educational experience.

Students, regardless of field, will obviously be trained in AI. Industry partnerships will be emphasized as a way to blur the line between university and workplace, easing students’ transition into a labor market that increasingly demands AI literacy.

AI universities will probably also describe themselves not just as users of AI, but as contributors to its development - generating proprietary data, refining their own models, and embedding continuous iteration into their institutional structure. The idea will be to portray themselves as agile, self-improving systems that remain in sync with rapid technological change.

Even human interaction will be reimagined. As mundane tasks are handed off to AI, they’ll argue, more space will open for meaningful exchanges between faculty and students. In their version of the future, AI doesn’t diminish human connection - it makes it possible again. Dialogue, critical thinking, and collaborative knowledge creation will be framed as the core of a new academic culture where human and machine intelligence reinforce each other.

Money talks

But the single most remarkable aspect of AI-based universities, or rather the main financial driver, is their potential to operate at a fraction of the cost of traditional universities. By capitalising on AI for all purposes and operations, these institutions will claim to offer a high-quality education that's financially accessible, disrupting the status quo of skyrocketing tuition fees.

If we consider the evolution of AI and its escalating impact on all spheres of life, this development seems likely. We often hear about the immense potential for reshaping learning with AI, and this transformation will take place not only in classrooms, but also within institutions themselves. I am certain AI-based institutions will emerge, if for nothing else because of their appealing profit margins.

The emergence of AI universities may seem like a prospective event on the horizon, I am confident we will be seeing them soon.