I'll be interested to see what reimagining the degree programs like the one offered by TED/Khan Academy/ETS look like...I know a lot of institutions have tried and aspired towards that (with and without AI) but the success-rate or quality of graduates seems at times in tension with other versions of higher ed.
I think the cost question is really interesting, because HEIs have to navigate not just education but tech infrastructure, social infrastructure, physical infrastracture, and political (internal and external) infrastructures--all of which cost time and money...we often boiled down to the exchange of money for degree but to maintain a degree program (nevermind more than one) is a costly act in the world...I think that's also why Khan was quick to announce but also, there's no clarity about whether it is, will, or can be accredited....
The scenario where families start comparing the cost of higher education to the cost of AI access really captures the moment. I'm already hearing versions of this from parents of young kids. What will college even mean by the time my kid gets there? The fact that parents are asking that question when their kids are five tells you how far ahead of institutions the anxiety has moved.
I dunno...I mean it came the same week that this article was highlighting that Khan was walking back the possibilities he offered us for Khanmigo so I'm a little dubious :)
Bryan’s third scenario — academics as guides to a stranger world — is exactly right. I’d add the prerequisite question that higher ed can’t answer alone: by the time students arrive on campus, have they built the cognitive architecture that lets them use AI as extension rather than substitution?
I teach chemistry and physics. I watch smart kids become incapable of sustained reasoning after a year of frictionless AI access. The “guides” model assumes students arrive with something to guide. The work has to start earlier.
Just wrote a book on this — Cognitive Sovereignty Under Compression. The framework is K-12, but the stakes are the ones Bryan is describing at the college level.
Lance — thank you for that. I’ll look for the Priten Soundar-Shah interview.
The framing I keep coming back to: higher ed can guide students through AI, but only if the students arrive with something to guide. Right now many of them don’t. The cognitive architecture has to be built before they get there — in K-12, ideally before high school.
That’s what Cognitive Sovereignty Under Compression is trying to name, and what Thinking Labs is trying to build. The stakes Bryan is describing at the college level are the downstream consequence of what isn’t happening in middle and high school.
Would love to connect if the conversation goes that direction.
Bryan's comparison to how outdated practices age badly is something I think about constantly. There are schools today still treating AI like it's a cheating problem to be policed, and in five years that framing is going to look so dated. The institutions moving toward genuine integration now are going to look completely different from those that waited. What do you think the biggest indicator will be?
I'll be interested to see what reimagining the degree programs like the one offered by TED/Khan Academy/ETS look like...I know a lot of institutions have tried and aspired towards that (with and without AI) but the success-rate or quality of graduates seems at times in tension with other versions of higher ed.
I think the cost question is really interesting, because HEIs have to navigate not just education but tech infrastructure, social infrastructure, physical infrastracture, and political (internal and external) infrastructures--all of which cost time and money...we often boiled down to the exchange of money for degree but to maintain a degree program (nevermind more than one) is a costly act in the world...I think that's also why Khan was quick to announce but also, there's no clarity about whether it is, will, or can be accredited....
I’m an adjunct professor about to leave the institution because no one is being innovative about these solutions!!
I sympathize and appreciate your saying so. We need vision and boldness now.
Correct. The mediocrity that we have been leaning on the past decade, will destroy us.
The scenario where families start comparing the cost of higher education to the cost of AI access really captures the moment. I'm already hearing versions of this from parents of young kids. What will college even mean by the time my kid gets there? The fact that parents are asking that question when their kids are five tells you how far ahead of institutions the anxiety has moved.
was definitely thinking about that when this was announced yesterday: https://blog.ted.com/ted-khan-academy-and-ets-announce-new-institute-to-reimagine-higher-education-for-the-ai-age/
Ha, so the anxiety isn't hypothetical anymore. And this is only the beginning.
I dunno...I mean it came the same week that this article was highlighting that Khan was walking back the possibilities he offered us for Khanmigo so I'm a little dubious :)
https://www.chalkbeat.org/2026/04/09/sal-khan-reflects-on-ai-in-schools-and-khanmigo/
Bryan’s third scenario — academics as guides to a stranger world — is exactly right. I’d add the prerequisite question that higher ed can’t answer alone: by the time students arrive on campus, have they built the cognitive architecture that lets them use AI as extension rather than substitution?
I teach chemistry and physics. I watch smart kids become incapable of sustained reasoning after a year of frictionless AI access. The “guides” model assumes students arrive with something to guide. The work has to start earlier.
Just wrote a book on this — Cognitive Sovereignty Under Compression. The framework is K-12, but the stakes are the ones Bryan is describing at the college level.
yeah, an upcoming interview is with Priten Soundar-Shah about this very thing: https://ethicaledtech.org/
Lance — thank you for that. I’ll look for the Priten Soundar-Shah interview.
The framing I keep coming back to: higher ed can guide students through AI, but only if the students arrive with something to guide. Right now many of them don’t. The cognitive architecture has to be built before they get there — in K-12, ideally before high school.
That’s what Cognitive Sovereignty Under Compression is trying to name, and what Thinking Labs is trying to build. The stakes Bryan is describing at the college level are the downstream consequence of what isn’t happening in middle and high school.
Would love to connect if the conversation goes that direction.
— Syd
smalaxos.substack.com
Bryan's comparison to how outdated practices age badly is something I think about constantly. There are schools today still treating AI like it's a cheating problem to be policed, and in five years that framing is going to look so dated. The institutions moving toward genuine integration now are going to look completely different from those that waited. What do you think the biggest indicator will be?