The Ministry of Education and Training's announcement at this time of the draft Circular regulating the application of technology in higher education to collect comments according to regulations is timely.
Because artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer standing outside the door of the lecture hall, but is present in each exercise, each curriculum, and each student's learning method.
It is not difficult for us to encounter a student using AI to summarize materials, suggest ideas, and even write an essay. Even lecturers are starting to use AI to design lectures, build question banks, or analyze academic results.
It can be said that the Ministry's introduction of this draft is not to "open the door" for AI to enter university lecture halls, but to restore order to a door that had been opened before.
A noteworthy point in the draft Circular is that AI is not seen as a "threat" to university lecture halls, but is also not allowed to float, but is only seen according to the principle "only supporting, not replacing the role of lecturers and not distorting learning outcomes".
This is the necessary "red line" to keep education from slipping out of its orbit. Because if AI replaces too deeply, learners may complete a lesson without really understanding the nature of the problem.
At that time, learning outcomes will no longer reflect competence, but only reflect the ability to use tools. More dangerously, it blurs the boundary between "self-study" and "copying", between "thinking" and "compilation".
And that is why this draft Circular also clearly focuses on academic integrity. Behaviors such as using AI for fraud, plagiarism, data forgery or not disclosing the use of technology... are named and have specific sanctions.
However, from regulations to implementation is a significant gap.
Reality shows that AI control in education is not as simple as checking a plagiarized document. As technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, distinguishing between the products of learners and the products of AI will become more difficult.
Therefore, AI control cannot only be based on tools or technical processes. AI control in university lecture halls is best when building an honest academic culture where learners understand that the greatest value of learning is not scores, but their true abilities.
Looking positively, if properly oriented, AI opens up great opportunities for higher education. Individualizing learning, analyzing data to improve teaching methods, supporting career orientation... are possibilities that were previously very difficult to implement on a large scale.
But to achieve that, education cannot just stop at managing AI, but needs to take another step to teach students and lecturers how to use AI to improve thinking, not to replace thinking.
AI has entered university lecture halls, so the issue is no longer whether to use it or not, but how to use it so as not to lose the core of education, which is training people, not training people who only know how to rely on machines.
