In an article for the evoLLLution, Vistasp Karbhari (University of Texas) suggests that generative AI and other recent advances could help improve access to higher education by overturning scarcity-based justifications. Karbhari argues that institutions often feel they cannot offer broader access to higher education due to a lack of assets like adequate student supports, suitable locations or buildings, well-qualified faculty and staff, or supports for pathways. Generative AI could help address each of these areas of scarcity, explains the author, by taking on roles such as a 24/7 course tutor to rural and remote learners or by assessing and creating individual learner pathways toward the learner’s preferred career. To fulfill education’s promise of being the “great equalizer,” Karbhari concludes that institutions will need to thoughtfully and responsibly embrace AI in this mission.
