Artificial intelligence is moving swiftly from novelty to necessity, reshaping how we live, work, and learn. The question is no longer whether AI will change education, but whether higher education will move quickly enough to prepare students for the world it is creating.
I think often about this moment in light of another. Nearly 60 years ago, my grandfather, Alfred Dreyfus, founded a small college in Virginia with a simple idea: education must evolve as fast as the world around it.
At the time, computers were rare, often dismissed as a fad. He believed they represented the future, and he built one of the nation’s first computer training institutions. Students came to learn skills for a technological world that most people could not yet imagine.
Today, we are at a similar turning point. Artificial intelligence has emerged on a faster, more visible trajectory. Within two months of its release, ChatGPT reached 100 million users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history.
AI is not creeping in through the back door of society; it has arrived at the front, demanding to be addressed.
AI will not fix gaps alone
When my colleagues and I began using AI tools, it was clear this was not just a productivity aid. It marked the start of a broader societal shift with profound implications for education.
At its best, AI has the potential to:
- Act as a tutor, adapting to each learner’s pace
- Support educators by freeing them from routine tasks
- Uncover inefficiencies that redirect resources toward students
- Prepare graduates for a workforce where AI literacy will be as essential as computer literacy was a generation ago
But potential does not fulfill itself. If we have technology that can increase engagement, strengthen retention and give students a clearer path to success, we have a responsibility to use it.
That responsibility carries real weight, especially when you consider that only about 61% of full-time students earn a degree within six years. AI will not fix those gaps alone, but it can help. For underserved students in particular, it could mean the difference between dropping out and crossing the finish line.
Guardrails for AI in higher education
Skepticism about AI in classrooms is familiar. When calculators appeared, some feared they would erode basic math skills. When computers entered schools, many worried they would distract more than they would teach.
In both cases, the tools became part of learning, not by replacing fundamentals, but by deepening them.
AI should be treated the same way: a tool to enhance learning, not to shortcut it. The real risk lies not in adoption but in absence, in graduating students into an AI-powered economy without the skills to navigate it.
Students will need guardrails. Faculty will need training. Institutions will need to set standards. But to wall off AI completely is to deny students the very literacy the workforce already demands.
Efficiency with a human center
Every inefficiency left in place in higher education is a cost students bear, whether in higher tuition, slower service or fewer opportunities. AI can help uncover those hidden costs. It can process transcripts in hours instead of weeks or handle paperwork so advisors can spend more time mentoring.
The mission is students. The measure is whether every decision, policy and investment puts them at the center. Thoughtful use of AI can free time for distinctly human strengths: critical thinking, creativity and empathy.
That balance is crucial. A university that runs lean but forgets its human purpose has missed the point. A university that clings to tradition and resists useful tools risks leaving its students behind.
The future of work
AI is not coming for the workforce; it is already here. Job descriptions are shifting. Entry-level roles are shrinking.
One person, fluent with AI-powered tools, can do the work of many. Success will not necessarily require deep technical expertise in AI, but the ability to use it effectively across professions.
If higher education does not keep pace, we will graduate students already behind. In an AI-powered economy, lack of literacy is not just a disadvantage; it is a disqualification.
Carrying forward what matters
Moments of technological upheaval are not new. Nearly 60 years ago, a man who survived World War II bet on computers before most people had touched one.
Today the tools are different, but the responsibility is the same. AI is not just a question of technology; it is a question of stewardship. We have to decide how to prepare students for a world remade by machines while still grounding them in the human strengths no algorithm can replace.
That is the work of education today. It is not about clinging to the past or rushing blindly into the future. It is about carrying forward what matters most: resilience, dignity, and purpose and equipping students to put those qualities to use.
