Author: Zakaria Lacheheb, International Islamic University Malaysia. Source: The Conversation
When handheld calculators entered classrooms in the 1970s, critics sounded the alarm on a wave of math illiteracy. With the internet, the panic shifted to the death of reading.
Yet, neither apocalypse happened. Instead, education adapted, turning these disruptors into essential extensions of human intelligence.
Generative AI marks a similar turning point for higher education. In lecture halls across Malaysia and Indonesia, students routinely use tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude for everything from research and writing to coding and problem-solving .
Many universities are pushing back against this trend, introducing stricter regulations, academic penalties, and AI-detection software.
This response fundamentally misjudges the challenge. The question isn’t whether students should use AI — they already do. The real question is how universities will train them to use it responsibly.
Instead of fighting generative AI as a threat to integrity, institutions in Malaysia and Indonesia should embrace it as a vital productivity tool by focusing on three priorities: teaching AI literacy, redesigning assessments, and embedding ethical frameworks.
AI as a productivity skill
Future graduates will enter workplaces where AI assists with predictive analytics, software engineering, financial analysis, legal research, and strategic decision-making. More than one-third of entry-level jobs now require AI skills, nearly triple the share from fall 2025. Some 28% of employers say they’re seeking early-career talent who can use AI in their work.
Universities should therefore teach AI as a professional competency. Students should learn how to construct effective prompts, evaluate machine-generated outputs, detect hallucinations, verify evidence, and recognise the limitations of AI systems. These are no longer optional digital skills but essential competencies for an AI-enabled workforce.
This approach is consistent with UNESCO’s call for a human-centred model of AI governance that prioritises AI literacy over blanket prohibition. Rather than discouraging students from using AI, universities should equip them to use it critically and responsibly.
Malaysia and Indonesia have an opportunity to lead this transformation. Indonesia’s recent Joint Ministerial Decree signed by seven ministers represents an important step in regulating AI across education. While the policy places greater restrictions on the use of instant-answer AI in primary and secondary schools, it also highlights the need for universities to develop clearer operational frameworks for responsible AI adoption.
Malaysia, with its ambitions to become a regional digital and knowledge economy, should similarly position higher education as a driver of AI literacy rather than AI avoidance.
Universities should encourage students to move beyond using AI merely to generate assignments. They should become creators of AI-driven solutions.
In Malaysia, for example, Islamic economics and finance students could develop specialised AI applications trained on key concepts like Maqasid al-Sharia (the framework for human wellbeing and justice), waqf (charitable endowments), zakat (obligatory almsgiving), and Sharia-compliant investment principles.
AI should become a platform for innovation rather than simply a shortcut for completing coursework.
