AI Adoption in Higher Ed Marketing: Impediments and Opportunities

Last week I presented to more than 100 marketers at a large university about the use of AI in higher ed marketing and gained valuable insights into the challenges of implementing AI within a single, complex institution.

Several familiar themes arose during the talk, and while AI isn’t a cure-all, it can effectively address many of the specific challenges I heard. Let’s dig in.

• Lack of Resources: Many marketers feel stretched thin, with a lack of staff, budget, and time being a common refrain I hear. AI can help alleviate this by automating time-consuming tasks like content generation and email marketing, freeing up more time for strategic, creative work.
• Creativity and the Human Touch: Speaking of creativity, while AI excels at handling repetitive tasks and data analysis, it can’t replace the human touch. Marketers should see AI as a partner, not a replacement, using it to enhance their creativity and strategic thinking.
• Unclear Job Descriptions and Skills Gaps: As AI becomes more integrated into marketing functions, roles need to evolve. Organizations should consider updating job descriptions to include AI-related skills and investing in training programs.
• Questions About Copyright and Ownership – It’s not yet clear who “owns” outputs from AI, so I always advise people to be cautious about what they put into an AI tool, what they do with what it gives them, and give credit to others wherever possible.
• Concerns About Data Privacy and Bias: This topic is top-of-mind for higher ed marketers. It’s crucial to work with ethical AI vendors who prioritize data security and transparency. Understanding how AI models are trained – and training them yourselves on how you want them to see the world – can also help mitigate bias.
• Need for AI guidance – The marketers I’ve talked with are looking for guidelines, training and tangible steps they can take. The university where I spoke last week held a training session for staff to learn about the AI capabilities of tools already in use at the university. The session was well attended and there were lots of great questions. There aren’t always easy answers, but I applaud them for prioritizing education.

During my talk last week and in those I’ve done previously, it’s clear to me that while higher ed marketers are anxious about some of the challenges related to AI adoption, they’re also enthusiastic about the potential and are looking for ways to embrace what’s possible.

Wondering what you can do to get started with AI this academic year? Check out my post on how to prepare your university marketing team for the AI wave or how you can boost employee confidence about AI through training.

Or get in touch and let’s talk about how I can help.