For better or for worse, academia is different than the corporate sector. It is meant to engage a deeper sense of analysis, to allow for issues to be debated and reflected upon. Learning is deliberate and incremental. For an enterprise that is built on serious engagement of the mind, emphasis must be on fundamentals, rigour and quality, not on sweeping changes to the curriculum in response to global trends and events. It is not to say that global trends and events are not important; it is simply to say that the academic approach to those changes must be rooted in care, thought and rigour, not on impulsive behaviour.

The recent announcement by HEC that starting 2026 all undergraduate and post-graduate programmes must have a three-credit hour course on AI is more of the latter (impulse) than the former (serious thought). The justification, as per HEC, is that "in the fast-changing landscape of the 21st century, Artificial Intelligence has emerged as a revolutionary force" – and thus everyone, whether in........

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