Universities and willing learners
Originally shared on LinkedIn on 2025-04-14 (UTC).
Context: This was commentary on Eric So’s sharing of Anthropic’s education report. Only Ian’s commentary is reproduced below.
Perhaps universities should get out of the business of trying to “educate” unwilling learners … or at least reorient themselves to better serve willing learners.
Universities are a bit like high-end restaurants where most customers aren’t interested in eating, merely in getting “meal completion certificates”. This is a particularly intriguing proposition when it’s not clear what completion of the meal even signifies (the idea that most students graduate from university with enhanced “critical thinking skills” is a myth).
(I would argue that elite MBAs have never really been about learning, so much as networking, recruiting, and social activity. So more concerning for those programs would be AI affecting those activities.)