Efforts to “jump on the artificial intelligence bandwagon” have not paid off for universities, with universities urged to “take a step back” before jumping into further investment in new technology.
Cameron Mirza, an official at the Jordanian International Research and Exchange Board, said much of the money currently being spent on AI is being “wasted.”
“We are currently at a stage where we are in the trough of disillusionment with AI, especially generative AI,” he said. times higher educationArab University Summit in Jordan.
“We’ve had a lot of hype about AI, but some of the reality is starting to kick in. We talk a lot about AI stalling. In fact, we’re talking about the fact that a lot of the information in the free version of AI is inaccurate. We’re hallucinating, so these are additional challenges that need to be considered.”
He warned that universities’ “fear of missing out” may be leading to hasty decisions and that institutions should instead “focus on getting the fundamentals right”.
“Everyone wants to jump on the AI bandwagon, and while that is laudable, it needs to be done in a more considered, thoughtful and pragmatic way.”
Universities also need to consider the financial sustainability of AI models, which Mirza said is often overlooked.
“AI is not free,” he told representatives from Al Aliyah Amman University. “That costs money. So the question is how do we sustainably fund AI investments, not just today but over the next five to 10 years? Where is the thinking about sustainable financing for this?”
“I would be shocked” if you told me “any university’s return on investment for AI,” Mirza said. “Or even tell me what the business case is for deploying AI across the university, I think we need to take a step back.”
Manal Jalloul, founder and CEO of AI Lab, said Arab universities need to introduce AI literacy courses for students to “democratize” technology. He said if Arab universities want to “become great universities and lead the AI revolution”, they need ambitious policies to help students evolve.[andleadtheAIrevolution”theyneedambitiouspoliciestohelpstudentsevolve[andleadtheAIrevolution”theyneedambitiouspoliciestohelpstudentsevolve
But she added: “Probably universities are suffering from long cycles of curriculum review… Technology is advancing very rapidly. The minute you talk about LLMs, the next thing you talk about something else. Things are evolving very rapidly and universities are probably finding it difficult to keep up with it to provide what the job market needs.”
juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com
