Three C's and their vitamin shock for Universities

The importance of the last five years for the digitization of Universities cannot be overestimated. More has happened fundamentally in these five years than in the 30 years before, and the reason for this lies in the three "Cs": Cloud, Covid and ChatGPT. Together, these words represent 3 vitamin shocks and will massively change the way universities approach their digitization.

The first "C" is the cloud. As I've written elsewhere, the availability of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft 365 or Google for Education is a fundamental way to get rid of your own data center. However, this is at the cost of a Babylonian captivity to the cloud provider, who, exploiting the lock-in effect, can drive a pricing policy that brings universities to the edge of their own funding possibilities as the level of digitization increases. But in the best of all worlds, there is always the latest software, worldwide accessibility of the platform and a 24/7 helpdesk.

The second "C" in 2020 was the shock of the Covid19 epidemic. At breakneck speed, universities flexibilized face-to-face teaching, introduced flipped classroom concepts, and enabled distance exams. Instructors recorded thousands of instructional videos, which were so well received that even after the pandemic ended, students do not want to give up hybrid teaching and the options they had once learned about. Back to large and crowded lecture halls with solo entertainers at the chalkboard? Not with our students! Similarly, the impact on the work modes of administration and academics. Home office for administrative staff: an absolute rarity in 2019, quite common since 2021. Work meetings, even scientific conferences take place via Zoom.

The third "C" in 2023 is the worldwide availability of generative artificial intelligence (example ChatGPT), whether for the creation of texts, images, or software. In addition to the de facto death blow for the essay assignments, generative AI also enables a leap in productivity, be it through easier writing of scientific texts, simplified summarizing of sources, better translations or better graphics. When Richard Socher was asked at DLD23 about GAI's current failures (hallucinations) in properly linking sources, he succinctly said, "Give us a few more weeks" (addendum: LLaMa, GPT4).

For me, the essential commonality of all three vitamin C shocks is that they happened past the traditional university data center. The old servers are no longer needed. What we do need, however, is a university-wide digitization strategy, knowledgeable staff for local support, and a training campaign for using the new services. Are our universities properly positioned for this in terms of personnel and funding?

Translated with DeepL