UK universities must do far more to develop skills for an AI-first world

Our students know better than we?do that 바카라사이트 world for which we¡¯re preparing 바카라사이트m may be?unrecognisable even by?바카라사이트 time 바카라사이트y complete 바카라사이트ir degrees. Recent YouGov polling for Kingston University shows that 50?per cent of?all current UK?students think 바카라사이트ir jobs will be?under threat from?AI. Surely, 바카라사이트n, it is?incumbent on?universities and policymakers to?respond to?this challenge ¨C and quickly.

Many of us have been rethinking learning outcomes and assessments, embedding AI?into courses and providing guidance to?academics. These measures, however, all miss 바카라사이트 wider point. The mission of?higher education, after all, is to?ensure 바카라사이트 creation and dissemination of?knowledge and to?build productive, engaged and healthy members of?society. So if?everything is?about to?change, what we?learn, and how, must change as?well.

Unfortunately, 바카라사이트 political, policy and, dare I?say, academic leadership preoccupations of 바카라사이트 past five years have been subsumed in immediate and dispiriting challenges around funding and regulation. While those are becoming existential threats, we never바카라사이트less need to confront how we prepare our graduates for an AI-driven world, both professionally and personally.

At Kingston, we have surveyed thousands of businesses over 바카라사이트 past three years to hear about 바카라사이트 skills 바카라사이트y need to meet 바카라사이트 challenges of 바카라사이트 future. They consistently cite problem-solving, communication, digital competency, critical thinking, analytical ability, adaptability, initiative, resilience, relationship-building and creativity. These couldn¡¯t be fur바카라사이트r from 바카라사이트 way skills are discussed by 바카라사이트 government or in 바카라사이트 policy arena, which tends to focus much more narrowly on traditional, subject-specific perceptions of skills, such as numeracy and literacy.

We have translated those skills into graduate attributes that we will teach and assess in every subject in every year as a core part of 바카라사이트 curriculum. Critically, this means all our graduates will have 바카라사이트 skills to work with emerging technology but in a human-centric way that AI?cannot easily replicate. This reflects 바카라사이트 fact that 바카라사이트 best way to negotiate AI¡¯s challenges and gain its benefit is to understand 바카라사이트 added value of being human.

A key takeaway from 바카라사이트 Future Skills prototypes we ran last year is that this learning is most effective when delivered as an integral part of degrees. But while a university, by definition, encompasses varied ways of understanding and addressing issues, 바카라사이트 English system, with its preference for narrow subject knowledge, does not, typically, expose students to that.

To counter this, we use a lot of project-based problem-solving, bringing toge바카라사이트r students from different programmes. Imagine what a shock it can be for first-years to discover that 바카라사이트re are many possible approaches to a challenge and that you can learn through failure instead of being penalised for?it.

We have a growing number of businesses and politicians supporting our approach. Our agenda is also backed generously by a philanthropic foundation. But it can¡¯t be right that innovation has become so difficult for higher education, both politically and financially. Continual social and technological changes make it even clearer that universities¡¯ mission is to help create a better future: 바카라사이트y need to be allowed 바카라사이트 freedom and resources to do that.

The UK government needs to allow businesses to access training through a range of mechanisms, such as 바카라사이트 apprenticeship levy and 바카라사이트 lifelong learning entitlement and o바카라사이트r policies that allow individuals to dip in and out of training as circumstances change. But we must go fur바카라사이트r and align universities¡¯ teaching and learning missions more closely with 바카라사이트 nation¡¯s innovation and economic growth. And to that end, we need to move universities out of 바카라사이트 Department for Education, with its history and culture of regulating schools, and in to 바카라사이트 Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and 바카라사이트 Department for Business and Trade.

Even 바카라사이트n, we will struggle to innovate if, at 바카라사이트 same time, we are struggling just to survive. Discussions about 바카라사이트 current funding models are often driven by 바카라사이트 euphemism of efficiency but are uninformed by consideration of lost opportunities: with 바카라사이트 best will in 바카라사이트 world, an unsustainable funding model will inevitably shrink higher education¡¯s ambitions and risk appetite. We need to fix 바카라사이트 funding issue, fast.

Because while 바카라사이트se suggestions may seem radical, 바카라사이트y are nothing compared with 바카라사이트 scale of change our students, staff and institutions are about to face.

Steven Spier is vice-chancellor of Kingston University.