Offering an AI Credential Is the Easy Half of the Change
Some universities are starting to offer certificates, microcredentials or degree programs related to artificial intelligence. As a piece in The Conversation Canada notes, that isn't the same as addressing human judgment related to AI across all learning and research — one is a set of credentials, the other is a claim about how graduates think.
The article also points to a finding from research on technological change in higher education: access to technology doesn't, on its own, transform institutions. Adoption is visible in a course catalogue. Whether anything deeper shifts is a separate question.
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The article lists what digital transformation actually involves: shifts in organizational culture, professional capability, governance, infrastructure and leadership alongside technological adoption.
That list makes 'is your university AI-ready?' look like a badly framed question. Five of its six items are institutional; the technology is one line in the inventory.
The scale of the pressure is worth noting too: the federal government is investing heavily in university-based AI research, and its AI literacy strategy includes a commitment to reaching one million entry-level post-secondary students.