My colleague George Bekiaridis drew my attention to a post by Cristobal Cobo on Linkedin. Cristobal was commenting on a new report by Turintin - Crossroads, navigating the intersection of AI in Education - who have surveyed 3,500 higher-education stakeholders—including administrators, educators and students—across Australia, India, Mexico, New Zealand, the UK/Ireland and the US in August 2024 to assess AI’s role in teaching and learning. Turintin are the controversial company who make and market plagiarism checking applications especially to higher education providers. Anyway the report sounded interesting so I tried to download a copy. Turintin asked for a form to be filled in providing your name and educational position. No problem but I did not tick the box saying that I agreed for Turintin sales staff to contact me. And guess what, the promised download of the report never arrived.

So I only have Cristobal's LinkedIn post to rely on for what the outcomes of the survey were. He says: “While 78 percent of respondents view AI’s impact on education positively, an overwhelming 95 percent believe it’s being misused in their institutions, and more than half lack clear guidance on when and how to apply it without compromising academic integrity. The study underscores the need for cohesive policies and systematic support to help educators balance AI’s efficiencies with the preservation of critical thinking and honest scholarship.“

Cristobal provides his own take on the results of the survey saying that most organisations, especially in education, are ill-prepared for AI and that teachers need systemic support to be equipped with at least a baseline level of AI fluency. Institutions are still catching up three years after the launch of Chat GPT. And despite all the issues with Generative AI it has become a foundational element of the digital ecosystem for education.

Cristobal draws attention to one key recommendation from the report:

Include students in the development of AI education policies.Not only is this uncommon—it’s essential. In a rapidly evolving landscape, all voices matter. If we want to shape an inclusive and forward-looking approach to AI in education, we must design it with the people it will impact the most.

This survey was targeted at Higher Education stakeholders. And I suspect the situation in Vocational Education and Training is even more problematic. There is far less support for professional development and our research points to the same lack of preparation and proactive institutional development. Furthermore VET faces the challenge of developing new curricula in occupational areas most impacted by AI integration. But I totally agree with the need to include students and trainees in both the development of institutional policies on AI and also in curriculum development.