Future changes in higher education: What do human experience and artificial intelligence anticipate?

Considering quickly changing dynamics in higher education sector, it is essential to question how various evolving factors may shape the future of higher education and higher education institutions will adapt effectively to their surrounding conditions. While human experience can provide insights about future higher education, AI-chatbots recently emerged as technological sources of knowledge extraction. In this regard, the purpose of this research is to examine future changes in higher education comparing the opinions of higher education researchers, as a group of academic experts, with the outlines of AI-chatbots. The research was benefited from two patterns of qualitative research. To collect data, interviews were carried out with 34 higher education researchers from 26 countries and also by queries on 15 AI-chatbots. Thematic analysis was employed to compare the opinions of higher education researchers with AI-chatbots’ outlines. The analysis revealed nine themes as five common (Technology integration, Pedagogical changes and educational models, Globalisation and international mobility, Social impact and sustainability, and Financial models and institutional policies) and four differentiating themes (Students’ mental health and well-being and Changing roles of educators by AI-chatbots while Governmental policies and university autonomy and Academic workforce and employment by higher education researchers). As the results indicating that higher education policymakers, managers, and academics can still define prior strategies collectively to shape higher education in future, this research discussed potential directions around each theme and proposed various recommendations for higher education authorities.