Beyond the Decline: Reclaiming the Purpose of Higher Education in the Age of AI

By Vahid Chitleborough, Chief Governance & Strategy Officer, EQUALS International

In 1988, I walked onto a university campus for the first time as a student. It was Orientation Week. The atmosphere was electric – clubs recruiting, leaflets flying, and wide-eyed first-years like me soaking in the moment. Lecturers in safari suits chalked notes on blackboards. We wrote everything by hand. We gathered on library steps and in cafés to debate, laugh, and slowly grow into ourselves.

That same year, Stephen Hawking published A Brief History of Time, Bruce Willis crashed into cinemas in Die Hard, and education in Australia was still free. We didn’t have the internet, smartphones, or AI – but we had connection. Real, human, immediate connection.

Back then, knowledge had a location. You made a pilgrimage to find it.

Today, things are different.

Knowledge lives in our pockets. It finishes our sentences. It writes our essays. It’s instantaneous and omnipresent. And our students are asking not, “Where do I go to learn?” but “Why go at all?”

That question strikes at the heart of higher education. And in the age of AI, it’s more urgent than ever.

Cracks in the Foundation
Recent research from Deakin University shows a sobering trend: Only 38% of Australians believe universities prioritise education over revenue. Trust has eroded. Twenty years ago, only 1 in 10 expressed no trust in universities. Today, it’s 1 in 3.

This is more than a PR issue. It’s a fracture in our social contract – a loss of the belief that universities serve the common good.

How did we get here?
The Dawkins Reforms opened access to more students, which was good. But they also ushered in a transactional mindset. Students became customers. Courses became products. And education, increasingly, became a service.

Universities began to mirror corporations – building billion-dollar campuses, launching marketing campaigns, chasing rankings. But in the process, something vital was lost.

We blurred our purpose.

The Disruption of AI
And then came the next wave of disruption: Generative AI.

It doesn’t just store knowledge – it creates it. It can simulate, solve, summarise, and write. To students, it’s available, non-judgemental, and efficient. It doesn’t grade you. It doesn’t care if you’re late.

Almost overnight, universities lost their monopoly on access to knowledge.

So, where does that leave us?

A Puzzle, A Pause
During orientation at EQUALS, I often show students a puzzle:

“Which is closest to midnight?”

A. 11:55 AM  | B. 12:06 PM  | C. 11:50 AM  | D. 12:03 AM

Phones come out. AI tools are consulted. Most say D, and they’re not wrong – mathematically, it’s closest.

But the question isn’t really about time. It’s about how we think.

Some students interpret it linguistically – “to midnight” suggests approaching it, so A makes sense. Others go lateral – maybe the correct answer is printed physically closest to the word “midnight” on the screen.

The point is: we don’t need better tools. We need better awareness. In the age of AI, the challenge isn’t access. It’s discernment.

Teaching That Transforms
Banning AI misses the point. It won’t cultivate wisdom. It won’t build character.

Instead, let’s teach students how to meet the machine with rigour and curiosity:

• Ask better questions
• Interrogate assumptions
• Recognise bias
• Refine their ideas

Let’s help them become thinkers – not just users. That’s where our true value lies.

Because if AI can generate answers, we must cultivate the capacity to understand, challenge, and reimagine them.

What Universities Must Now Become
We need to reframe the value of higher education. If knowledge is everywhere, our role is not to deliver content – but to foster formation.

That means:
• From compliance → critical thought
• From alienation → belonging
• From transactional learning → transformation

Educators are no longer just lecturers. They’re coaches. Companions. Guides.

AI can do many things. But it cannot offer perspective. It cannot show empathy. It cannot call forth a human soul.

Five Signposts to the Future
1. Reclaim Moral Purpose
We must educate not just for jobs – but for justice. Our graduates must be ready not only to work, but to serve.

2. Elevate Teaching
We need to value teaching as deeply as research. Educators shape hearts and minds. That’s not a fallback – that’s foundational.

3. Embrace AI – Ethically and Intentionally
AI isn’t an enemy or a saviour. It’s a tool. We must model ethical use and empower students to wield it wisely.

4. Rebuild Belonging
Students need to feel seen and supported. Real learning happens in environments of trust, relevance, and relationship.

5. Speak Honestly
Trust doesn’t require perfection – it requires transparency. We must have the courage to say: “We got it wrong. We’re learning.”

The EQUALS Ethos
At EQUALS, we don’t have sandstone walls or ancient mottos.
But we do have something just as enduring: a belief in human potential.

We see education not just as a path to a profession, but a journey of becoming.

We want students to graduate not just with skills, but with confidence, purpose, and heart.

And yes – we aim to prepare them for work. But more than that, we prepare them for life.

A Story from the Front Line
A clinical educator once told us: “The most important trait in a graduate nurse? Resilience.”

So we built simulations to train not just skills, but inner strength. We taught role-play, emotional regulation, courage.

Because true formation goes beyond the subject outline. It lives in the spaces between content – in the cultivation of character.

Even Governance Must Be Purpose-Driven
Much of my own work is in governance. And here too, the challenge is not just compliance – but alignment.

The question isn’t just: are we following the rules?

It’s: are we serving the mission? Are we listening? Are we walking our talk?

The greatest threat to a university is not regulatory failure.
It’s forgetting why it exists.

A Final Image: Alma Mater
John Henry Newman once said, “A university is an Alma Mater – a nourishing mother – knowing her children one by one.”
That’s the kind of education we need to reclaim.

Not a foundry. Not a treadmill. But a place of formation.
Where intellect and identity are shaped with care.

A Call to Stewardship
In the age of AI, our greatest asset remains being human.
So let us:
• Teach with courage
• Lead with care
• And build institutions worthy of the journey our students take

Because the university is still a pilgrimage.

Not because we guard the gates to knowledge.

But because the journey continues to shape the soul.

Let’s be good stewards of that journey.

Author’s Note:

This article is adapted from a talk originally delivered at the 2025 HEPP-QN Forum as part of the “Soapbox” series.

About the Author

Vahid Chittleborough is Chief Governance & Strategy Officer at EQUALS International and a passionate advocate for purpose-driven education. With decades of experience in law, governance, and higher education, Vahid believes that the future of learning depends not just on innovation, but on integrity, insight, and human connection.