AI-native students are arriving at university. Is higher education ready?

For this year’s university cohort, AI is not a new technology. Many students have been using it throughout their studies, from assignments to exam preparation. But being comfortable with AI does not necessarily mean knowing when to trust it, when to question it or when to put it aside.

As QS Insights Magazine explores, universities are facing a fundamental rethink of how they teach and assess learning. Oral exams, live problem-solving, real-world projects and reflective assignments could become increasingly important in testing what students genuinely understand, rather than simply what they can produce with AI.

Anna Plechatá Krausová, Chancellor of NEWTON University, contributes to the discussion, arguing that universities should not expect a uniformly weaker generation of students. The challenge is to keep raising the bar and create opportunities for even the strongest students to demonstrate genuine understanding and independent judgement.

She also points to a strength of the Czech education system: oral examinations and in-person thesis defences remain an established part of higher education, giving academics the opportunity to assess not only the final result, but the thinking behind it.

The bigger question is no longer whether students will use AI. It is what universities need to teach students to do when AI can already produce convincing answers in seconds.

Read the full article in QS Insights Magazine