PhD in Educational Technology from the University of the Balearic Islands, Spain. She has extensive teaching experience at both secondary and higher education levels, including undergraduate and postgraduate programs. Her specialization lies in qualitative data analysis, through which she has developed her own line of research, enabling her to participate in national and international conferences and to publish in high-impact journals in both Spanish and English. She currently serves as Director of the Diploma in Digital Competencies and as Director of the Educational Informatics Department at Universidad Autónoma de Chile.

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes our world, higher education faces a pivotal decision: will it merely adopt these technologies or will it actively guide their integration in ways that preserve human judgment, ethics, and intellectual autonomy? This opinion article argues that universities must take a leadership role—not only to safeguard their institutional identity but also to contribute to a society populated by digitally competent, ethically grounded professionals. 

Recent studies show that AI tools like ChatGPT and Wolfram Alpha are increasingly used by students to automate complex academic tasks, from essay writing to mathematical problem-solving. While these tools offer clear advantages in terms of efficiency and access, they also risk diminishing critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and problem-solving abilities—skills essential for lifelong learning and civic engagement.
The concept of Professional Noticing, which refers to the ability of educators to interpret and respond to nuanced learning signals, is under threat. Delegating this judgment to algorithms may erode the relational and reflective dimensions of teaching. Research by Jacobs et al. (2010) and Yang et al. (2020) underscores that this competency cannot be replaced by data analysis alone; it is inherently human, contextual, and ethical. 

Furthermore, digital identity awareness among students remains worryingly low. In Chile, for example, university students exhibit high transparency in sharing personal data online, yet demonstrate limited understanding of how these actions shape their algorithmic identities (Hernández-Orellana & Roco-Videla, 2021). This makes them vulnerable in a global job market where digital presence matters as much as academic performance. 

Compounding this concern is the uneven access to AI tools across institutions, deepening digital divides and reinforcing educational inequality. As Adams et al. (2022) and Harouni (2023) note, without equitable frameworks and ethical safeguards, the integration of AI could do more harm than good.

The role of universities, therefore, is not merely to adopt AI, but to embed its critical use into their core educational mission. This involves: 

• Redesigning curricula to include algorithmic literacy and data ethics;
• Promoting interdisciplinary dialogue on the societal impacts of AI;
• Equipping graduates with skills to navigate, question, and ethically apply generative technologies;
• Ensuring institutional policies protect data sovereignty and academic integrity. 

Universities that fail to adapt may soon find their graduates—and their reputations—obsolete in a world where digital competence is the new currency of credibility. More importantly, by not addressing these urgent challenges, they risk abdicating their social responsibility to educate informed, responsible citizens.

 
Now is the time for institutions of higher learning to reaffirm their public mission—not just to impart knowledge, but to cultivate the discernment, resilience, and ethical clarity necessary to thrive in an AI-mediated world.

 
References

Adams, A., Greenhow, C., & Harouni, H. (2022). Ethical considerations of AI in education: Privacy and bias concerns. AI and Ethics Journal. Bellomo, S. (2023). Artificial intelligence and educational transformation. Journal of Education and Higher Education, 3(7), 87–114. Cordón, O. (2023). Artificial and human intelligence: Opportunities and risks in higher education. 

Revista Especial Universitaria, 591(581), 3–7. Durá Martínez, E. (2025). Are we ready to integrate AI into university teaching? Retrieved from https://www.universidadsi.es/estamos-listos-para-integrar-la-ia-en-la-docencia-universitaria/ Georges, F. (2012). À l’image de l’homme: Cyborgs, avatars, identités numériques. 

Temps des Médias, 18, 136–147. Harouni, H. (2023). Embracing artificial intelligence in the classroom. Harvard Graduate School of Education. Hernández-Orellana, M., & Roco-Videla, Á. (2021).

Characterizing the digital identity of Chilean university students. Future Internet, 13(3), 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/fi13030074 Jacobs, V. R., Lamb, L. L. C., & Philipp, R. A. (2010).

Professional noticing of children's mathematical thinking. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 41(2), 169–202. Rodríguez Marín, M. (2025). 

AI in higher education: Revolution or risk? Tecnológico de Monterrey. Yang, X., Kaiser, G., & König, J. (2020). P

rofessional noticing and teacher knowledge. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 18, 825–844.