I have been around long enough to watch waves of technological change. Back when the internet was still new, we knew it would change the world, even if we did not yet understand how. Now with artificial intelligence we are in the same moment, yet our universities in the UK are acting as if the tidal wave is optional.

While UK universities are worrying about students using AI, China is training and encouraging its students to do exactly that. China’s national guidance from earlier this year made it clear that AI education should accelerate digital transformation across every level of schooling. Meanwhile Chinese universities such as @Tsinghua University and @Peking University are already building AI capability into their core curricula.

Here in the UK the picture is very different. Research from @HEPI shows that ninety two percent of undergraduates are already using AI tools, yet fewer than a third feel their institution encourages it. Many say the guidance they receive from their university is vague or contradictory, usually framed as a risk issue rather than an opportunity.

So why are our universities struggling so hard to resist the inevitable?

Curriculum design, assessment models and leadership mindsets simply have not kept up. Much of the sector still sees AI as an integrity problem to be contained rather than a capability to be developed. Our leading institutions, from @Universities UK to individual universities such as @University of Cambridge, are publishing policies that focus on compliance before innovation.

I have spent my life at the bleeding edge of technology and I recognise the signs. We do not have a technology problem; we have a leadership problem. China is positioning AI as a national strategic asset. Too many of our universities are positioning it as an inconvenience.

If we want our graduates to compete on a global stage, we need our universities to stop resisting and start leading.