Key points:
- AI is popular in areas where human connection and trust-building have always been crucial in helping students
- 6 tips to unlock the most value from AI
- College counseling in an AI world: A path to fair access
- For more on how AI can help students, visit eCN’s AI in Education hub
Like so many students today, my son took out loans to finance his college education. In the weeks and months that followed, we diligently monitored his university’s financial aid portal to ensure his account status was in good standing.
But as we neared the start of his first year of college, we became concerned. Only a portion of his federal student loan appeared in his account. A call to the financial aid office was in order, but students at my son’s university cannot simply pick up the phone or visit the financial aid office in person. They can only sit in a Zoom queue and hope someone can eventually help them.
In some ways, the university’s excessively structured approach was understandable. After all, financial aid offices are always hectic at the start of the semester. But that knowledge did little to ease our growing frustration. This particular situation cried out for an automated solution–and it’s in moments like these that I truly grasp why so many are now embracing artificial intelligence. There are many transactional issues like my son’s financial aid error that can benefit from AI’s ability to view, resolve, and communicate back to learners directly.
AI is swiftly gaining ground in higher education. One recent survey found that 70 percent of recent college graduates thought their professors should incorporate generative AI tools into their classes. Meanwhile, the vast majority of colleges are working on formalizing AI strategies for their institutions, with nearly half of institutions agreeing or strongly agreeing that AI is a strategic priority. But while institutions rush to deploy AI to better serve students and make staff members more efficient and effective, they cannot forget the importance of human connection in the college experience.
AI is proving especially popular in the kinds of student support services where human connection and trust-building have always been crucial. Institutions are using AI to contact and recruit potential students, with an estimated 80 percent of universities expected to use AI in admissions by 2025. They’re turning to AI to automate scheduling and to identify at-risk students. They’ve deployed AI-powered chatbots to give around-the-clock answers to student questions about classes, on- and off-campus resources, and, yes, financial aid.
By using AI to free up staff members from repeatedly answering the same routine questions or performing the same mundane tasks, the thinking goes, college personnel can spend their time and energy instead on tasks that really matter. Determining which of these essential tasks can be safely automated and which still require a human touch is paramount.
This is all the more important because today’s college students have arguably never been in greater need of personalized, face-to-face support. Learners are becoming increasingly lonely. They’re experiencing levels of stress, sadness, and anger that should concern us all. These negative emotions have led to a level of disconnection on college campuses that professors describe as “stunning.” When students are disconnected from their classes, their professors, and their peers, their grades and well-being suffer and they’re at greater risk of stopping out of school.
To surmount the barriers that stand in their way, students need support built upon strong human relationships. Humans build trust with one another. It’s this trust that students foster with an advisor, coach, or counselor–one conversation at a time, one text at a time, one phone call or email at a time–that allows them to seek help when they really need it.
Although AI tools might be able to pinpoint the issues confronting a student, only another human can figure out why, exactly, someone is missing class, skipping dining hall meals, or not submitting assignments. Only a well-trained support staff member can ask the right questions with care and sensitivity to understand that what might appear to be a lack of motivation is, in reality, a lack of food and housing. Only another person can read between the lines, untangle the threads of a complicated life, and provide the guidance and support that meets a student’s goals and needs.
Research supports the importance of one-on-one advising, individualized coaching, and supportive mentorships during the college experience. One survey from Strada and Gallup found that college graduates are much more engaged at work if they had a mentor in college who encouraged them to pursue their dreams. Students who formed strong bonds with college personnel were also more likely to report higher levels of well-being.
There are many places on college campuses where institutions can fully implement high-tech solutions and improve the student experience. But there are as many instances where institutions should continue to employ a personal touch. An advanced AI chatbot could have certainly helped my son get the answers he needed about his financial aid. It could not have helped him navigate the complex personal and academic challenges that followed.
It falls squarely on the shoulders of institutions to carefully discern which challenges are best addressed with technological solutions and which demand irreplaceable human connection.
Ruth Bauer White is President of InsideTrack.