Embrace AI in teaching to survive ‘tsunami’, University of Hong Kong head says

Universities should embrace the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in teaching if they want to survive, the president of Hong Kong’s oldest tertiary education institution has said, as he expects the sector to be reshaped in the coming decade.

Xiang Zhang from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) also said it would establish a school of government and public policy to attract young leaders to Hong Kong.

In an exclusive interview with the Post, Zhang said AI presented a huge opportunity and a challenge because universities could no longer simply feed students knowledge amid an “AI tsunami”.

“Now students have many other alternatives. They can have AI teachers from the internet who could be better than some of our teachers, so we’re going to compete with AI basically in terms of the avenue of acquiring knowledge,” he said.

“So can teachers be better equipped with AI tools so students can more easily absorb the materials and content?”

Zhang added that institutions would be left behind if they did not embrace change.