Artificial Intelligence Has Entered the Classroom – But Where Are Our Policies?

(The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Al-Fanar Media).

When ChatGPT was released in November 2022, it reached 100 million users in two months. Today, it ranks as the fifth most visited website globally. Our students are using it. Our professors are using it. But according to a landmark UNESCO report released this month — the Higher Education Global Trends Report 2026 — only 19% of higher education institutions worldwide have adopted a formal artificial intelligence (AI) policy.

Even more telling: while 61% of faculty report using AI in their professional practice, 80% say their institution lacks adequate guidance on the technology.

The Arab world is not immune to this gap. In my work training journalists and media professionals across the region — from Cairo to Amman to Sharjah — I have seen the same pattern repeated. Educators are experimenting with AI for lesson planning and grading. Students are using large language models to write essays and solve problems. And university administrators are largely silent.

Silence is not neutrality. It is a policy failure.