Is AI Adoption Inevitable?

In this final episode of a three-part series on AI in higher education, Angela and guests, Emily Rush, Eda Bozkurt, and Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin answer fundamental questions at the heart of the AI debate. These include: why has the AI conversation become so emotionally charged? what concerns around AI's negative effects feel most urgent right now? and what would responsible institutional leadership around AI actually look like? Topics include equitable access, ethics and trust, learning and productive struggle, deskilling, and much more. A big thank you to our wonderful guests for sharing their time and expertise! Emily Rush, PhD is the AI Education Specialist in the Office of Academic Affairs at Rush University, and AI Discipline Director and Assistant Professor of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Rush Medical College. She researches topics including AI policy, implementation of AI in medical education and research, and AI’s impact on clinician professional identity formation. Eda Bozkurt is a PhD candidate in Architecture at the University of Michigan. She works across CRLT, the Ginsberg Center, and Rackham Graduate School on educational development, and her dissertation looks at displacement and collective memory in urban renewal projects. Besides her dissertation work, she enjoys exploring the relationship between teaching, equity, and technology, with particular attention to how AI is changing trust, authorship, and the ways student learning is recognized. Benjamin Mitchell-Yellin, PhD is Director of the Teaching & Learning Center and Associate Professor of Philosophy at Sam Houston State University. He has published on AI in outlets such as Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Ed, and his TEDx talk, “AI and the Good Life,” was chosen as an Editor’s Pick in 2025.