King's calls on universities to rethink essence of learning in AI era

London — In the era of rapidly advancing artificial intelligence (AI), universities are grappling with a profound challenge that extends far beyond merely integrating the technology into classrooms. At King’s College London, Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Shitij Kapur contends that the more critical task lies in reevaluating the very essence of learning itself.

"Universities must go beyond the question of how to employ AI and instead ponder what the core nature of learning should be when machines can increasingly handle the cognitive tasks that students have traditionally been educated to tackle," Kapur stated in an interview with The Korea Times. Rather than perceiving AI primarily as a threat to academic integrity, Kapur advocates for universities to concentrate on whether conventional educational models, which have predominantly centered around the acquisition and demonstration of knowledge, remain adequate in an age where machines can execute many cognitive tasks.

This necessitates a paradigm shift from a knowledge-based approach to learning to one that prioritizes the cultivation of students' aptitude to apply their knowledge in real-world contexts. "The fundamental shift," Kapur emphasizes, "is from cognitive to practical application."