Online #ALDcon25 Conference Keynote Speaker
Dr Mark Carrigan FRSA FHEA is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester where he is programme director for the MA Digital Technologies, Communication and Education (DTCE) and co-lead of the DTCE Research and Scholarship group. Trained as a philosopher and sociologist, his research aims to bridge fundamental questions of social ontology with practical and policy interventions to support the effective use of emerging technologies within education. He has written or edited nine books, including Generative AI for Academics published by Sage in 2024.
Engines of Mistrust: How Generative AI Amplifies Crisis in Higher Education
In late 2022, as ChatGPT burst into public consciousness, universities worldwide found themselves gripped by a ‘great assessment panic’. The now familiar story of technological cheating soon dominated institutional responses, with calls to return to exam halls and high-stakes surveillance that risked undermining the trust at the heart of education. Drawing on my research into how academics are adapting to generative AI, this talk explores how these technologies function not merely as tools but as engines of mistrust. I’ll examine how ChatGPT and similar systems have intensified existing fractures in the university system, converting specific anxieties about assessment integrity into a more troubling, generalised suspicion between teachers and students, as well as across different groups of students.
The context for this transformation wasn’t created by AI: the cracks in our assessment systems have been apparent for years, with contract cheating steadily growing and universities reluctant to look too closely at structural challenges they have limited power to address. Rather than merely updating our assessment methods, I argue that addressing generative AI in teaching and learning requires confronting this crisis of trust directly. Otherwise, we risk building a post-pandemic university culture defined by technological paranoia rather than the creative and inclusive learning environments our students deserve.
Consolidated NLP-Based AI Analysis of the Q&A and Zoom Extract Following Dr. Mark Carrigan’s Keynote Speech
Dr. Mark Carrigan’s keynote speech, “Engines of Mistrust,” sparked a highly engaging and thought-provoking discussion among participants, captured on both the Miro Board and in the Zoom chat. The feedback highlights key concerns, opportunities, and challenges in integrating AI into higher education.
