Could AI do a professor's job? It depends...

At dinner parties, people love to ask me if students are cheating with ChatGPT. But they never ask the awkward follow-up question: "Is that computer going to take your job?"

It’s time to answer it.

In this video, we move past the idea of the professor as just a "lecturer" and break down the three actual legs of the job: Teaching, Research, and the endless "Service" committee meetings. We’ll look at where the machines are already winning (efficiency, stamina, content delivery) and where they still fail (curiosity, mentoring, and understanding the "why").

I also explore the darker possibility: that AI won't steal the job directly, but might make the university degree itself irrelevant through micro-credentials and skills-based hiring.

Topics Covered:

The "Three-Legged Stool" of Academia: Teaching, Research, Service.

Why AI is better at "Service" (and why that’s terrifying).

The difference between processing data and having "curiosity."

The "Adapt or Die" reality of AI literacy for faculty.

Why students won't pay tuition for a chatbot.

Read the full blog post here:

#HigherEd #AI #FutureOfWork #Academia #ChatGPT #EdTech #UniversityLife #Professors #artificialintelligence

Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction: The Unasked Question
01:45 - The Three-Legged Stool: What Professors Actually Do
03:10 - Leg 1: Teaching & Mentoring
04:35 - Leg 2: The Engine of Research
06:00 - Leg 3: Service & University Plumbing
07:30 - The Match-Up: Can AI Replace Us?
09:45 - The Real Threat: "The Slow Fade"
11:15 - Conclusion