Is Artificial Intelligence Reshaping Higher Education?

“I don’t think [artificial intelligence] is going to be able to prevent students from thinking critically. That’s still going to be our job in the classroom. And it’s not like we had a golden age of American critical thinking for the last 200 years and now suddenly it’s stopping. Critical thinking is always a hard thing to teach and to learn. ...

“But I do worry sometimes that people are going to take their individual voice, using writing as a way to think, and sometimes outsource that to AI. And I hope that doesn’t happen, because I think there’s still value in wrestling with language, wrestling with your own thoughts, without shortcutting it.”

—Burke Nixon, Senior Lecturer, Program in Writing and Communication, Rice University

About the Episode

What does the acceleration of artificial intelligence mean for higher education, from the admissions process to students’ academic and intellectual development? How can students learn to engage responsibly with AI, and what does it mean for the early graduate labor market?

Baker Institute fellow and guest host Michael O. Emerson sat down with Rice University Provost Amy Dittmar, University of Houston Associate Provost Jeff Morgan, and Burke Nixon, a senior lecturer in Rice’s writing and communication program, to discuss the advent of AI and its implications for colleges and universities.

This conversation was recorded in front of a live studio audience on Sept. 17, 2025. 

Mentioned in this episode:

• Burke Nixon, “Opinion: No, AI chatbots haven't killed the college essay. Here's why,” Houston Chronicle, January 1, 2023. 

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About ‘Baker Briefing’

Hosted by David M. Satterfield,  the “Baker Briefing” podcast delivers timely analysis on breaking policy developments and other critical policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. New episodes are released weekly.

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This material may be quoted or reproduced without prior permission, provided appropriate credit is given to the author(s) and Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. The views expressed herein are those of the individual author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.