Dive Brief:

• A large majority of college students — 90% — report using artificial intelligence in class at least occasionally, according to new survey data from ed tech provider Instructure.
• Nearly two-thirds of college instructors, 61%, said the same. But the survey, released Tuesday, also found that only 11% of higher ed instructors received comprehensive AI training, while 41% said they had not received any formal training on AI.
• Educators are looking for support in the form of hands-on training, clear guidance from their institutions about AI use, and ongoing professional development on the topic, according to Instructure.

Dive Insight:

Higher education has been grappling with AI use in college classrooms and boardrooms since late 2022 when ChatGPT first launched. Much of the notoriously staid — and, at times, slow-moving — sector has been left to play catch-up in the four years since, as the technology has progressed in staggering leaps and bounds.

Some high-profile institutions, such as Arizona State University and the California State University system, have struck deals with AI companies to grant students and employees access to their tools. But many colleges are still developing AI use policies, if they have started the process at all. 

Either way, AI is already “part of how students learn and educators work,” Melissa Loble, Instructure's chief learning officer, said in a Tuesday statement.

"The challenge now is making sure people have the training, judgment and clear expectations to use it well,” she said. “That requires practical support for educators and thoughtful boundaries that keep critical thinking, human judgment and meaningful learning at the center.”

The Instructure survey polled over 1,100 higher education and K-12 educators, college students, and parents of K-12 students. College students reported being the most active users of AI and the most likely to see an upside to the technology, with 94% identifying at least one reason to be optimistic about AI’s educational applications. A majority of surveyed educators also reported at least one reason for optimism. 

But among both college educators and students, 65% expressed concern that AI can sound confident when it is wrong. They also reported worries about a potential overreliance on the technology and loss of critical thinking and deep learning.

The new survey offers some insight into what is expected of educational institutions. 

Every demographic surveyed by Instructure said they expected schools to teach the ethics and responsible use of AI, as well as literacy for the technology.

Respondents also showed more support for the use of AI in support tasks, such as finding resources, compared to using it for academic decisions or grading assignments.

Other polling has found increasing skepticism around AI. A Gallup survey conducted in December found increasingly negative sentiments among Gen Z adults about AI. Some 83% called it at least “somewhat” likely that AI designed to complete tasks quicker “will make learning more difficult in the future.”

Students have also voiced their displeasure with AI in more direct ways. Newly minted graduates at the University of Arizona booed former Google CEO Eric Schmidt when he praised AI during a commencement address in May. At least two other spring commencement speakers at other colleges faced similar opposition. The same month, Columbia University students joined faculty in protesting the use of AI to read graduates' names during commencement