From personalized learning experiences to streamlining administrative tasks, artificial intelligence’s potential for transforming higher education is fast growing. However, to fully realize this potential, equipping educators with AI expertise and adapting institutions to a rapidly evolving technological landscape is essential.
AI’s impact on higher education
It’s no secret —AI is already reshaping the way students learn and institutions operate. Adaptive learning platforms, powered by AI, can analyze student performance in real-time, offering customized content and feedback tailored to individual needs. This personalization helps bridge learning gaps and fosters a more inclusive environment.
The technology also supports educators by automating repetitive tasks, such as grading and attendance tracking. This enables faculty to focus on higher-value activities like mentoring and curriculum development. Additionally, AI-powered tools like predictive analytics can help institutions identify at-risk students and provide timely interventions to improve retention and success rates.
The importance of equipping educators
However, despite its potential, AI’s integration into higher education is not without challenges as some educators and institutions remain concerned over the usage of AI tools in the classroom.
Education solutions provider Anthology recently conducted a survey of more than 5,000 higher-ed leaders and students in 11 countries around the opportunities, challenges, adoption and impact of AI in the education sector.
The survey found that school leaders in the United States were slower to embrace generative AI, with 26% reporting using AI tools “frequently or occasionally,” in contrast to their counterparts in the United Arab Emirates (54%) and Singapore (49%), who reported the highest use of Gen AI.
Though university leaders expressed concerns, 45% said they expected their use of Gen AI tools to increase. Nearly 30% of university leaders in the US believed AI could assist with brainstorming, 22% saw the value of using AI to draft assessment questions aligned with learning outcomes and 17% saw potential in course building.
Educators equipped with AI expertise can better prepare students for a future where AI literacy is a fundamental skill. Providing professional development opportunities that focus on AI literacy is critical. Workshops, certifications and partnerships with technology companies can help educators better understand how AI’s applications work in education, evaluate the ethical implications of AI, such as data privacy and bias, and incorporate AI tools to enhance teaching and learning outcomes.
Adapting to a changing world
Many higher education institutions already have begun taking steps to adapt to the changing demands of the workforce and society. This includes rethinking traditional curriculums to incorporate AI-related content across disciplines.
For instance, the University of Pennsylvania’s Graduate School of Education last month announced the launch of the Ivy League’s first education degree in artificial intelligence. Launching in the fall of 2025, the graduate program — “Learning Analytics and Artificial Intelligence” — is designed to train developers to build AI with teachers in mind. It’s slated to cover a broad range of topics, including machine learning, data analytics, technologies that adapt to student needs and the ethical implications of AI in education.
“More students around the world are now learning with AI and from AI,” said Ryan Baker, a professor of learning sciences and technologies at Penn. “Our program addresses the need to develop practitioners and scholars who can build learning systems, based on solid learning sciences principles, that leverage AI to support teachers rather than disempower them, and provides them the necessary skills to harness the exciting new possibilities of generative AI to transform learning.”
Partnering with technology and AI providers
Collaboration with industry is another key strategy. Partnering with tech and AI companies — like Verbit — can provide access to cutting-edge AI tools and real-world applications, ensuring that both faculty and students stay ahead of fast-moving technological advancements.
Moreover, institutions can invest in infrastructure that supports AI adoption, such as upgrading IT systems, ensuring cybersecurity measures and creating AI research labs. These investments not only enhance learning but also position universities as leaders in innovation.
Embracing the future of education
Verbit partners with schools around the world, providing scalable captioning and integrations that make it easy for administrators and teachers to provide accessible learning spaces both inside and outside of the classroom. Our solutions are built for education, trusted by hundreds of schools and universities and integrate with the most popular Learning Management Systems (LMS) and video platforms.
We offer a variety of solutions for education, including AI-driven live and post-production captions, transcription, audio description and translation.
Our Generative AI technology, Gen.V™, provides helpful insights on transcripts. Within minutes and the click of a button, Gen.V™ can generate informative summaries of class lectures, administrative meetings or events, making transcripts actionable. It also offers quizzes for information recall, chaptering and suggested headlines and keywords.
We offer affordable rates, flexible workflows and the ability to scale to meet high captioning demands. Our new education subscription plan – Verbit Unlimited – can help lessen some of the financial challenges for schools in providing access services to students by offering industry-leading captioning, transcription and translation support at one annual price, enabling schools, colleges and universities to scale accessibility initiatives across their entire campuses in a new, affordable way.
Reach out today to learn more about how we can help you create a more dynamic, personalized, and inclusive learning environment.