GenAI is transforming higher education, and Florida is leading the way

In the past 18 months, one of the most pressing conversations in higher education — throughout the U.S. and everywhere else in the world — has been about the emergence and implications of a technology called generative artificial intelligence, or GenAI.

While this technology, which uses AI to create content such as text, images and video, is not new, its recent widespread adoption has led some educators to panic over how it may affect the way we work, communicate and live.

Such reactions are not hyperbolic. GenAI is a profoundly disruptive technology, on par with the invention of the printing press or the digital computer. The extraordinary power of GenAI to automate heretofore uniquely human abilities is inspiring excitement about how it may open up new business opportunities, free employees from repetitive tasks and exponentially increase the pace at which human knowledge advances. The technology is also inciting fears that it will replace people in the workforce and diminish the human capacity for critical thought.

It is no surprise, therefore, that nearly every college in the country is currently reimagining higher education in an effort to leverage the power of GenAI, and to preserve relevant aspects of traditional academic practices and values. From defining and integrating “AI literacies” across curricula to rethinking the fundamentals of what and how we teach, educators are confronting a host of thorny questions about the relationships between technology, knowledge and human intelligence. For many, coming to terms with the impact of GenAI on higher education is akin to rebuilding the proverbial ship while still at sea.

Institutional change is seldom easy, and the current efforts to re-engineer higher education are uncomfortably complex. Such discomfort is healthy to the extent that it prompts reflection and engagement, but there is no guarantee that America’s colleges and universities will trend toward such openness where GenAI is concerned — at least not without an intentional and sustained effort to overcome longstanding prejudices.

Intercollegiate competition and hyper-specialization within academic fields are two such roadblocks, as is the tendency for people to settle into staunch positions either for or against the adoption of GenAI. Indeed, while many see this technology as ushering in a tectonic shift where resourcing students is concerned, others view GenAI as an existential threat to the traditional standards of teaching and scholarship that have been in place for centuries.

Recalcitrance notwithstanding, a lot of constructive work has emerged from the halls of academe to support GenAI adoption, and many institutions are openly sharing their insights. In Florida, this openness and transparency is reflected in the mission and vision of the newly formed Florida AI Learning Consortium (FALCON), which has attracted hundreds of educators from across the state’s two higher education systems — the Florida College System and the State University System — as well as some from private institutions.

FALCON’s commitment to cross-disciplinary, inter-institutional collaboration represents an important departure from the traditional emphasis on specialization and intercollegiate competition. Ultimately, the goal of FALCON (like the goal of education in general) is to produce graduates who are self-sufficient and capable of contributing to society. Today, this requires the cultivation of the skills needed to leverage GenAI ethically in a range of professional and social contexts — skills that must be learned by faculty and students alike. Given the enormity of the changes that GenAI is likely to induce in the months and years ahead, the broader public needs to be brought into the conversation as well.

In response to these needs, FALCON encourages educators to rethink the relationship between the classroom, research and the public sphere as an ethical prerequisite to reforming the social, political and economic landscapes. There is no doubt that this work requires a critical mass of people who are curious and open to the possibilities of GenAI-infused education. But this does not mean that widespread concerns about academic integrity and the preservation of traditional academic practices are misguided or anachronistic. There are areas of education — both in research and teaching — that should be safeguarded against GenAI intrusion. Still, the circumference of this area is perhaps much smaller than some are currently willing to admit.

Whether or not other states adopt a similar model to FALCON remains to be seen. But this much is clear: Higher education is facing a critical moment, and turning back the tide of GenAI adoption is futile. Educators must take advantage of the current opportunity to shepherd the responsible deployment of GenAI, accelerate knowledge acquisition and provide graduates with the technological literacies they need to keep pace with quickly changing workplaces.

Sid Dobrin is a professor and chairperson of the Department of English at the University of Florida. Bruce Fraser is the director of the Institute for Academic Excellence at Indian River State College.