When handheld calculators entered classrooms in the 1970s, critics sounded the alarm on a wave of math illiteracy. With the internet, the panic shifted to the death of reading.
Yet, neither apocalypse happened. Instead, education adapted, turning these disruptors into essential extensions of human intelligence.
Generative AI marks a similar turning point for higher education. In lecture halls across Malaysia and Indonesia, students routinely use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude for everything from research and writing to coding and problem-solving .
Many universities are pushing back against this trend, introducing stricter regulations, academic penalties, and AI-detection software.
This response fundamentally misjudges the challenge. The question isn’t whether students should use AI — they already do. The real question is how universities will train them to use it responsibly.
