E158: Post-Plagiarism University: Replacing Humans with AI—Belonging Dips, GPAs Slide, Integrity Erodes

Dr. Joseph Crawford unpacks how AI is reshaping higher education - eroding student belonging, redefining assessment in a post-plagiarism era, and raising the stakes for soft skills. Guest bio Dr. Joseph “Joey” Crawford is a Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of Tasmania and ranks among the top 1% of most-cited researchers globally. His work centers on leadership, student belonging, and the role of AI in higher education, and he serves as Editor-in-Chief of a leading education journal. Topics discussed AI in higher education and the “post-plagiarism” era Student belonging, loneliness, and mental health impacts Massification of education (8% → 30% → 50.2% participation) Programmatic assessment vs. essays/exams COVID-19’s lasting effects on campus culture and learning Recorded lectures, flipped learning, and in-person tradeoffs Soft skills, leadership education, and employability Academic integrity, peer review, and AI misuse by faculty Labor shortages, graduate readiness, and industry pathways Social anxiety, AI “friendship,” and GPA outcomes Main points & takeaways AI substitutes human support: Heavy chatbot use can provide a sense of social support but correlates with lower belonging and reduced GPA compared to human connections. Belonging matters: Human social support predicts higher well-being and better academic performance; AI support does not translate into belonging. Post-plagiarism reality: Traditional lecture-plus-essay or multiple-choice assessment is increasingly unreliable for verifying authorship. Assessment is shifting: Universities are exploring programmatic assessment—fewer, higher-stakes integrity checks across a degree instead of every course. Massification pressures quality: Participation in Australia rose from 8% (1989) to 30% (2020) to 50.2% (2021), straining rigor and prompting curriculum simplification and grade inflation. COVID + ChatGPT = double shock: Online habits and interaction anxiety from the pandemic compounded with AI convenience, reducing peer-to-peer engagement. Less face time: Many business courses dropped live lectures; students are now ~2 hours less in-class per subject, raising the bar for workshops to build soft skills. Workforce mismatch: Employers want communication and leadership; graduates often lack mastery because entry-level “practice” tasks are automated. Faculty risks too: Using AI to draft peer reviews can embed weak scholarship into training corpora and distort future models. Pragmatic advice: Don’t fear AI—use it—but replace lost micro-interactions with real people and deliberately practice human skills (e.g., leadership, psychology). Top quotes “We’re in a post-plagiarism world where knowing who wrote what is a real challenge.” “Some students are replacing librarians, peers, and support staff with bots—they’re fast, infinitely friendly, and never judge.” “AI social support doesn’t create belonging—and that shows up in grades.” “The lecture isn’t gone, but in many programs it’s recorded—and students now get less in-person time.” “Don’t substitute AI-created efficiency with more work—substitute it with more people.” 🎙 The Pod is hosted by Jesse Wright 💬 For guest suggestions, questions, or media inquiries, reach out at https://elpodcast.media/ 📬 Never miss an episode – subscribe and follow wherever you get your podcasts. ⭐️ If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review the show. It helps others find us. Thanks for listening!