Higher Education - Don't Get This One Wrong! Metaverse, AI, ChatGPT & Bard Gonna Change Everything!
Don Philabaum
Entrepreneur, career and professional development author, speaker & expert on the use of technology, Meta, AI. Passionate about emerging NIL industry supporting student-athlete career success!
The time is right for higher ed to embrace the metaverse and artificial intelligence!
In the last quarter of 2022, a new online tool powered by artificial intelligence called ChatGPT had users waking up to the potential tools and services that could tap into unlimited processing power, big data, data storage, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.?
The adoption rate for ChatGPT has been off the charts.?Consider how long it took for previous internet delivered tools and services to reach one million users:
Brands, organizations, non-profits, and the government will be finding ways to leverage the technology to increase revenue, learning, engagement, and deliver services faster with less effort.?
There is big money supporting this rapid consumer adoption. The firm that created ChatGPT, OpenAPI has already received a $3 billion dollar investment from Microsoft, and it’s been reported that Microsoft is ready to invest another $10 billion dollars so it can integrate the AI in their Office products.?Already Google is rushing to market their version of artificial intelligence search tool called Bard.?(I hope both of these products are renamed!)? When Google offers their alternative AI tool EVERYTHING changes!?
And it’s a good time for higher education to quickly get on board.
Here are five reasons why colleges and universities should lean into leveraging the metaverse and AI
Organizations are rapidly adopting metaverse and AI strategies.
Besides the above MASSIVE investments by Microsoft and Google, brands, organizations and even the military are rapidly adopting metaverse and AI strategies to increase learning, revenue, and reduce costs.??
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A PwC survey found 82 percent of executives say they expect metaverse plans to be part of their business activities in three years. Many are acting on research that suggests the metaverse is slated to add $5 trillion to the global economy by 2030. The same study suggests eCommerce will be the largest economic force ($2.6 trillion), followed by virtual learning ($270 billion), advertising ($206 billion), and gaming ($125 billion).? Imagine that! Virtual learning is predicted to generate more value/revenue from the metaverse and AI than advertising and gaming!
Students are early adopters of technology including the metaverse and AI
GenZ grew up with cell phones, apps, digital wallets, online gaming– and because of Covid –have been exposed to the benefits of distance learning and being able to play a recording of their professor’s lectures, read a transcript of the lecture and leverage zoom study groups.?They not only are early adopters, but they are pushing colleges, brands, non-profits, and marketers to leverage the metaverse and technology to deliver more personalized, convenient, and– whenever available –free services! Over twenty five percent are likely to arrive on campus with Oculus or equivalent headsets.??
The pandemic changed the perception of the value of a four-year college which opened the door to new competitors
Colleges are not only struggling with a declining traditional prospective student base, but the fact that all had to deliver courses online and still charge the same fees didn’t sit right for with them NOR their parents.??Covid offered a one two punch to colleges as it not only forced it to adopt virtual learning programs
The technology has reached a whole nuther’ level!
The enormous investment firms are making in developing the infrastructure and technology to support the metaverse combined with the viral emergence of the AI through ChatGPT and Bard is waking up every firm, everyone in a leadership role to take notice and evaluate how they will need to pivot and adapt.?The changes are going to come rapidly because once the foundation is laid and access (headsets) come down, and behavior changes, it will be not only simple for organizations to adapt their products and services, but it will be cheap!
Summary
I did a quick search on colleges that gave incoming freshman an iPad as an incentive to go to their college and found 2010 - 2012 was a time period innovative and nimble enrollment management teams adopted the strategy.?The same enrollment management teams have an opportunity to increase their enrollment and reduce their summer melt in 2023 by announcing they will provide every incoming student metaverse headsets and are increasingly leveraging the metaverse and AI in all courses and college life.?
A 2019 PwC study identified about half a million jobs worldwide that were impacted by VR and or AR and they predicted as many as 23 million jobs will be using AR and VR in one way or another for training, meetings, and customer service purposes by 2030.?We’ve probably already exceeded that!
Colleges and universities that rapidly adopt the metaverse and AI will also send a signal to the employers they will be delivering employees who not only are immersed in applications and techniques to leverage the metaverse and AI, but also are prepared to offer creative ideas on how they can compete and advance their product development in an increasingly virtual world.