Academics ‘fear students becoming too reliant on AI tools’

University staff fear that students are becoming increasingly reliant on artificial intelligence tools, and are not critical enough of their output. 

In a survey of over 1,600 university faculty members across 28 countries, 82 per cent of faculty members said they are worried about students becoming overly dependent on AI tools, with more than half of these (55 per cent) saying that this was a “significant concern”.  

A further 83 per cent expressed doubt over students’ ability to critically evaluate AI-generated output. Over half (52 per cent) strongly agreed that this was a threat. 

Advice on AI use in higher education

The report, produced by the Digital Education Council (DEC), says the results are a “wakeup call” for higher education leaders. 

“Faculty are deeply engaged with the rapid rise of AI but are calling for stronger institutional support, clearer governance frameworks, and improved AI literacy to harness its potential. While optimism about AI’s role in teaching and research is high, concerns around ethics, workload, and skill readiness persist,” the report says. 

“Faculty see AI as both an opportunity and a challenge, urging institutions to invest in training, policy development, and technology infrastructure to remain competitive in a rapidly changing landscape.”

Academics raised concerns that assessment methods are quickly becoming outdated, with 54 per cent of faculty members believing that student assessment methods require significant changes, and 13 per cent saying there is an “urgent need for a complete revamp of evaluation methods”.

Faculty members who identified as a “proficient adopter” of AI were additionally more likely to agree that assessment methods needed significant changes or a complete revamp, with 71 per cent agreeing. 

The survey follows a similar student report released by DEC last year, which found that students were concerned that the overuse of AI in teaching could “devalue” higher education, highlighting concerns from both staff and students about the potential ramifications of emerging tech. 

Alessandro Di Lullo, chief executive of the Singapore-headquartered DEC and academic fellow in AI governance at the University of Hong Kong, said: “The data is clear: faculty want to use AI, but the lack of training and institutional clarity is holding them back. Both institutions and individuals must act now to embrace AI literacy, or risk leaving educators and students unprepared for the future.”

Promoting ethical and responsible use of GenAI tools

Almost two-thirds (61 per cent) of faculty members said they had used AI in their teaching, with creating teaching materials being cited as the most common use. This was followed by supporting administrative tasks, teaching students how to use and evaluate AI in their studies and boosting student engagement in class. A quarter of academics (24 per cent) said they had used AI to generate feedback for students’ work. 

But when asked about what extent they use AI, 88 per cent said they were using it only moderately, compared to minimal use or that it was integral to their teaching. 

Some 86 per cent said they saw themselves using AI in teaching in the future, but sentiment on its overall value to education was mixed. Almost two-thirds (65 per cent) said they saw AI as an opportunity, and 35 per cent perceived it as a challenge. 

The report adds: “The AI revolution has a long way to run and we are only at the beginning. Whilst faculty are broadly positive about the use of AI, their institutions need to support them to succeed and meet overall institutional goals.”

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com