Framing The Future of Tertiary-Education Delivery: Critical Thoughts on the Impact of Artificial Intelligence, Godfrey Bernard, Hafeeza Shah

Godfrey St. Bernard and Hafeeza Hosein Shah
University of the West Indies
Trinidad and Tobago

DOI: 10.47556/B.OUTLOOK2026.24.1

Abstract

In the delivery of tertiary education in undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at university-level, tertiary learning institutions have thrived and the production and consumption of knowledge for its own sake, to facilitate decision-making in all spheres of public and private endeavours, and as catalysts for innovation and invention.  Throughout the history of humankind, human instincts and especially human intelligence have driven such functions that have characterised pedagogy, cognitive development, and evaluation in tertiary level institutions.

This paper is grounded in the logic of “futures studies” and presents critical perspectives for consideration in responding to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the transformation of processes characterising the delivery of tertiary education focusing on pedagogy, cognitive development, and evaluation.  These perspectives are informed by insights from cohort studies that link generational birth cohorts to different period-specific influences that impact respective lifetime influences differently.

These implications will be discussed recognizing that outcomes may likely be different for tertiary institutions dependent upon their capacity to seize advantages associated with the development of AI in the delivery of tertiary education in undergraduate and graduate programmes in tertiary-learning environments.

Keywords: Human intelligence, artificial intelligence, tertiary learning, pedagogy, cognitive development, evaluation.