Revealed: The NSW universities using AI in lectures and as ‘study buddies’

The state’s universities are deploying AI in lectures, as a virtual assistant for conversational skills and as a “study buddy” as the technology continues its march on higher education.

Backlash is brewing across the sector as concerns mount about hollowed-out and devalued qualifications, for which some students will pay record prices next year .

Since ChatGPT exploded in late 2022, universities have been grappling with how to handle the rise in student use of AI, but teaching stands as a new frontier for the technology.

The University of Newcastle this month told introduction to programming students that part of the course would be delivered by an AI digital avatar of the course convener.

Newcastle’s acting pro vice-chancellor for education innovation, Professor Karen Blackmore, said in a statement the university had started “academic-led initiatives” into how AI could enhance course delivery and the lecturer was “using short AI videos to demonstrate the real-world application of the technology”.

The computer programming course will continue to include face-to-face laboratory sessions and live classes.

“The university does not support replacing traditional lectures with AI-delivered content,” she said.

University of Newcastle Students’ Association president Imogen Reid said students were wary of AI “sneaking” into courses, while the National Tertiary Education Union’s Newcastle branch president Dr Terry Summers questioned the university’s motivation.

“It’s some sort of project that they’re trying, but why are they trying? It may just be for a project, or it may be to see if they can get away with doing it on a larger scale. If it’s delivering lectures, it would seem to me that it misses the whole point of a university education,” he said.

“The community and the students are paying for a degree, and if it’s being delivered by a ChatGPT avatar, it’s not quite kosher, is it?”

AI tutors have been rolled out at universities in America, including Virginia’s George Mason University and Chicago’s Generations College. In 2024, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology deployed 10 AI lecturers of varying ages, nationalities and cultural backgrounds.

The New York Times has also reported that Harvard Business School used volunteer academics to help create AI clones of themselves for a new eight-week entrepreneurship boot camp. Harvard has tested the product, which costs $US699 ($975), with more than 100 universities across 50 states.

NTEU NSW division secretary Vince Caughley said: “The loss here is fundamental. If you remove enough academics and these critical interactions, then these institutions are no longer universities.”

AI enthusiasts say it saves time and effort and allows academics to focus on more critical tasks, and can provide out-of-hours answers and feedback. Many in the sector acknowledged that AI is here to stay, so universities must act accordingly.