The Latest on how to best Navigate AI in Higher Education for Everyone Involved

Artificial Intelligence is transforming the way we live, work, and now, how we learn. So what does this mean for educators, students, parents, and business leaders?

That’s exactly what I asked Dr. Elaine Young in a recent Strategy Talks conversation. If you care about learning, hiring, or helping the next generation thrive, you’ll want to pay attention to what’s happening with AI in higher education.

Dr. Elaine Young is the Department Chair for Marketing, Media, and eSports Management at Champlain College Online. She’s been at the college since 2000, teaching traditional and adult learners both in person and online. Her deep background in tech, marketing, and learning theory makes her the perfect voice for this moment in education.

“This is a perfect storm for this moment,” Elaine said. “A moment of disruption and transformation when it comes to generative AI.”

Why AI in Higher Education Is Moving at Lightning Speed

Elaine has watched the internet evolve since the dot-com boom. But AI? This is different.

“Generative AI is growing, changing, and evolving with new tools being announced every day,” she explained. “It’s almost impossible to keep up.”

And that’s not just for students. Teachers and administrators are struggling to keep pace too. While the internet was a gradual shift, AI an avalanche.

What makes it tricky is that students aren’t coming to class with the same baseline. Some are already using ChatGPT daily. Others have never tried it and don’t know where to start. That’s where the divide begins.

The New Divide: How Access Impacts AI in Higher Education

Elaine brought up a concept I hadn’t heard before but it makes total sense: we’re heading into an AI divide.

“What we used to call the digital divide, I would now call an AI divide,” she told me.

Some students have unrestricted access to tech, time, and tools. Others are locked out—literally. In rural or underfunded school districts, Chromebooks are often so locked down that students can’t experiment with AI at all.

And when educators themselves are still learning how these tools work? That makes it hard to teach the next generation how to use them wisely and ethically.

The Ethics of AI in Higher Education Are Still Murky

We’ve all heard the concerns about students using AI to cheat, but as Elaine pointed out, it’s not that simple.

“You cannot actually tell if someone’s using generative AI unless they do it really poorly,” she said. “So how do you police it?”

Rather than accuse or punish, she’s advocating for open conversation.

“I call it sophisticated use,” she said. “If you’re going to use AI, show me how. Let’s talk about it.”

She even includes an “authenticity statement” on her own LinkedIn posts, explaining when and how she used AI in the writing process. It’s about modeling transparency and teaching good digital citizenship.

Teaching and Learning With AI in Higher Education

Elaine’s online students are mostly working adults, averaging 36 years old. That means many of them are already using AI at work or trying to figure out how.

At Champlain, she’s helping students experiment and reflect. In one assignment, students first create a buyer persona manually. Then they use AI to generate another version and compare the two.

“We’re centering the critical thinking,” she said. “Not the surface-level offloading.”

That distinction really stood out to me. Using AI isn’t the problem. Using it without thinking is.

What Critical Thinking Looks Like in the Age of AI

This part of the conversation hit home: How do we teach students to think critically if they’ve never known a world without AI?

“How do you teach someone what’s real if they’ve never experienced what real is?” Elaine asked.

We talked about how younger generations are growing up with AI-generated everything—videos, articles, even friends. That changes how they perceive reality. So no, going back to handwritten essays isn’t the answer.

Instead, we need to evolve how we teach and how we assess learning. Because whether we like it or not, the future isn’t handwritten.

What AI Fluency Means for AI in Higher Education

Elaine recommends a helpful mindset shift: forget tool mastery. Focus on AI fluency instead.

“AI fluency means knowing the frameworks, not just the buttons,” she said.

She pointed to Anthropic’s free AI Fluency course as a great starting point (don’t worry, I’ll link it in the show notes!). It focuses on how to think about using AI responsibly across roles and industries, not just how to prompt better.

That same mindset applies in business. If you’re a founder or manager wondering how to upskill your team, Elaine’s advice is gold:

“Find the one or two employees who are early adopters. Give them space, time, and tools. Let them explore and then share what they learn.”

It’s not about forcing everyone to become experts overnight. It’s about encouraging curiosity and collaboration.

What Everyone Should Know About AI in Higher Education: Parents, Employers, and Students

So where does that leave the rest of us?

If you’re a parent, don’t assume your teen understands AI just because they’re tech-savvy. If you’re an employer, don’t assume a Gen Z hire will know how to use these tools at work. And if you’re a student, don’t wait for someone else to teach you. Start experimenting now, with integrity.

“Never make assumptions,” Elaine warned. “That 20-year-old may not know how to use AI just because they’re 20.”

At the end of the day, Elaine reminded me that our role as educators, parents, and leaders is not to fear the change, but to guide it.

“Things we needed yesterday, we’ll still need tomorrow. It’s just how we do it that’s going to change.”

Want to learn more about AI in higher education and beyond?

Here are 10 smart prompts to ask ChatGPT if you’re exploring this topic:

• What are the pros and cons of AI in higher education?

• How can professors responsibly integrate AI into their curriculum?

• What’s a good AI usage policy for college classrooms?

• How can parents talk to their teens about ethical AI use?

• What does “AI fluency” mean and how do I build it?

• How does AI in higher education affect job readiness?

• How can I compare AI-generated content to human-created content?

• What are the top ethical issues in education related to AI?

• How should schools handle AI in standardized testing?

• What are examples of successful AI tools used in higher education?