It's no longer the fantasy of the comic book or sci-fi film. It’s now: AI has arrived. It’s among us, it’s part of the everyday, and is growing at an astonishing rate. There’s no getting away from it. It’s weaved itself into our present, and it’s destined to be a huge part of our future.
how AI is shaping how we learnAI: shaping
how we learn
So what does that mean for our future generations? Well, as ever,
it’s the younger generation that have already got something of a
head-start on the rest of society. They’ve never known a world
without instant information from the internet and social media, or
instant access to it via mobile phones, tablets or laptops. Computer
and information technology have been the cross-curriculum
staples of their education.
They’re the most AI-ready of the lot of us.
And nowhere is this more evident than in their
university studies as they hit adulthood and get
ready to take charge of tomorrow’s world – with AI at
their side. That’s why we’ve decided to take a deep
dive into the matrix to get a clearer picture of how AI
is affecting how students study, and how universities
themselves have had to shape up - not only for the
future, but for the here and now, too.
Rise of the
machine-based courses
Across the UK, the university landscape is changing. Although in many respects it
always has: as society and industry have evolved, universities have always had to
stay one step ahead to ensure that they can provide the courses to shape
tomorrow’s adults – who in turn shape tomorrow’s industry, and so on into infinity.
Now the challenge is to provide AI-ready courses for AI-hungry minds,
for our AI-shaped future.
So where in the UK should students go to sit their AI-
studies? Which are the most AI-ready universities? And
what courses are now available to them?
Figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) published in August
2024 show a sharp increase in the number of enrolments for courses in Artificial
Intelligence. In 2017/18, the percentage of UK universities that took enrolments in
AI courses was 10%. In 2022/23, just five years later, it was 29% - a rise of 19%.
In fact, out of the 291 universities analysed over the five year-period, only 29 had
enrolments onto Artificial Intelligence courses in 2017/18, in comparison to 84
universities in 2022/23 – nearly three times more.
| Enrollers in AI courses | 2017/18 | 2022/23 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 365 | 2265 | 521% | |
| 1075 | 5670 | 423% |
And while more males are applying for the AI courses, it’s females that have seen
the biggest percentage increase in applications, with a difference of 521%
between 2017/18 and 2022/23. The University of Hull had the highest number of
Artificial Intelligence course enrolments in 2022/23 with 690 students,
followed by the University of Edinburgh (405 students) and the University of
Bradford (325 students).
AI in the UK: the universities with the most Artificial
Intelligence course students
| Rank | Higher education provider | 2022/23 AI course enrolments  |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | The University of Hull | 690 |
| 02 | The University of Edinburgh | 405 |
| 03 | The University of Bradford | 325 |
| 04 | The University of Bath | 320 |
| 05 | The University of Surrey | 280 |
| 06 | The University of Liverpool | 270 |
| 07 | Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine | 255 |
| 08 | The University of Sheffield | 240 |
| 09 | The University of Sussex | 215 |
| 10 | Loughborough University | 210 |
| 11 | Anglia Ruskin University | 195 |
| 12 | Teeside University | 185 |
| 13 | University College London | 185 |
| 14 | University of Hertfordshire | 185 |
| 15 | University of Nottingham | 170 |
| 16 | City, University of London | 165 |
| 17 | Robert Gordon University | 145 |
| 18 | The University of Birmingham | 145 |
| 19 | University of Gloucestershire | 140 |
| 20 | The University of Leeds | 135 |
And, when looking at other courses that have seen a rise in enrolments over the
same period, it’s clear to see the influence that AI might be having. While
enrolments in Artificial Intelligence courses have risen by 453% overall,
Information Technology is up by an impressive 3514%. Other notable rises have
been seen in Business Computing (2384%), Software Engineering (265%),
Computer Games and Animation (112%) and Biotechnology (100%)- all of which
are areas that could be utilising the rise of AI.
The human voice:
students vs. AI
So that’s the picture from universities. But what about the people who actually
make those places tick? We checked in with the UK student population to get
their views on AI and how it has shaped their course choices, and learn a little
about how they’re using it to further their studies.
The students we spoke to were either currently at university, or had
graduated recently – in essence, those that have been exposed to AI
and could be factoring it into their thoughts for their own future. Of
those we asked, 63% were of the belief that AI has improved their
chances of succeeding in their chosen career, while 67% have
found that using AI has been beneficial during their studies.
However, the growing popularity of AI hasn’t
necessarily played a huge part in decision-making
when it comes to picking a course to study. Only
37% said it had influenced their decision, with 63%
saying it hadn’t made a difference. And at this
stage, only 31% of those spoken to said that they
were planning to pursue a career in AI after
graduating. Whether that figure increases remains
to be seen, but with the rapid growth of AI use in
industry and general everyday use, it’s a fair bet to
suspect that it might.
There’s an app for that:
how today’s students are
using AI to study
As AI has developed, it’s become increasingly more useful and accessible to everyone. Students are just one sector of today’s AI-assisted society that are harnessing the power on offer to them via their mobile phones, tablets and laptops.
There are a huge variety of ways that students can use AI to help them study, and the most popular of those right now is to enhance their ability to undertake research and gather information. 47% said they use AI for precisely this, taking advantage of AI-driven synthesis tools such as Chat GPT or Perplexity, which take seconds to carry out research tasks that might have taken hours in the university library in the past.
Other uses that figure highly for students are apps that help to summarise content for them (39% said they had used such an app), and apps that provide writing assistance (28%).
Top 10 applications of AI during university studies
| Rank | Use of AI | % respondents |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Researching and gathering information | 47% |
| 02 | Summarising content | 39% |
| 03 | Writing assistance | 28% |
| 04 | Problem-solving | 27% |
| 05 | Generating study notes | 25% |
| 06 | Exam preparation | 20% |
| 07 | Learning new concepts | 20% |
| 08 | Language translation | 19% |
| 09 | Data analysis | 18% |
| 10 | Time management | 16% |
Yet despite the increasing availability of AI to help with tasks including exam prep, language translation, data analysis, time management and more, there remains a perception among some students that use of AI constitutes ‘laziness’. It was a dead-split between those we asked, as 50% considered AI use as lazy, while 50% disagreed.
Similarly, it’s a close-call as to whether students feel that using AI is akin to cheating. 41% believe that it is – 59% disagree and think that it’s okay.
Meanwhile, 58% believe using AI has helped to improve their standard of work.
don’t rely on an artificial brainUse your brain:
don’t rely on an artificial one
Of course – it’s all a matter of context and how students are using
AI. All universities have policies on the use of AI, and generally
while they encourage the use of AI to support learning, they
actively frown upon any other uses if they threaten academic
integrity. Students should always critically engage with any AI-
generated content and use it to enhance - not replace - their own
efforts and critical thinking.
In fact, 14% of the students we spoke to said they knew someone
who had been penalised for the incorrect use of AI during their
studies. Some of the repercussions they reported included:
being capped at the pass mark of
40% for the module
being asked to resubmit their
entire assignment and achieve an
AI score of less than 20% on
TurnItIn, an app that identifies
plagiarism or AI written-work
being failed for the module, before
being referred to the academic
team who would decide if they
stayed at the university, be
permanently expelled, or have to
re-sit the entire year
The final word on AI:
positive or negative?
To conclude, we put it to today’s students and recent graduates to give us their overall feelings on the rise of AI in the wider world, and to tell us whether they feel positively or negatively towards it.
In general, it was a resounding thumbs-up for our robotic brothers and sisters. 64% viewed AI as a positive thing, while only 17% felt negatively towards it. The remaining 19% were sat on the digital fence, unable to decide one way or the other. Themes such as efficiency, improvement in various aspects of life, and the automation of mundane tasks were felt to be positive things. But some of those who viewed AI with negative eyes were concerned about a ‘lack of guardrails’, that could allow AI to replace many human jobs for good, resulting in less workers and higher profits, and a widening gap between the rich and poor members of society. Others worried about the potential for AI to be misused, and a general reduction in human intelligence due to over-reliance on AI.
| How do you feel about the future of AI? | % respondents |
|---|---|
| Excited | 21% |
| Curious | 20% |
| Optimistic | 18% |
| Anxious / worried | 12% |
| Sceptical | 9% |
| Inspired | 9% |
| Neutral | 7% |
| Overwhelmed | 2% |
| Angry | 2% |
To go a little deeper still, 21% said that they felt excited about the future of AI, while 1 in 10 are anxious about it. The idea of AI ‘taking over’, has influenced how 3 in 10 have chosen their career path – and their university course as part of that.
University data was collected from the Higher Education Statistics Agency’s ‘Higher Education Student Statistics: UK 2022/23’ report, using tables 9, 46, 13, and 49.
The survey – of 983 UK students and former students who graduated between 2022 – 2024 - was conducted between September 9th – 25th, using Pollfish.
AI and laptops – the perfect match
Whatever your thoughts are in regard to AI, it’s here to stay. And as we’ve seen, there are plenty of good uses for it, from streamlining mundane tasks through to learning a new language, problem solving and so much more. So as AI evolves at an astonishingly fast rate, it pays to have today’s best tech to make the most of it, for now and for the future.
At Currys, we stock a fantastic range of AI laptops full of features and functionality to take your personal computing to the next level and beyond. From Google’s powerful Chromebook Plus through to the Windows-powered Copilot PC, you’re certain to find the best laptop for your needs.
So if it’s an artificial intelligence laptop you’re after, embrace the future and pop in-store or online today.Â
