AI
How AI is changing the way universities are found, judged and run, and where to draw the line.
I present my podcast as a digital twin. Here's where universities should draw the line.
Young audiences are comfortable with AI but deeply sceptical of being misled by it, and advertisers are badly misreading them. For universities, whose marketing rests on evidence of real students and real outcomes, the line matters more than for most brands.
28 October 2026 · 2 min read
Nearly half of applicants now ask AI to help choose a university. One in five has crossed a name off because of the answer.
Applicants are building shortlists from AI answers before they ever visit a university website, and some institutions are being ruled out without knowing it. Most of our measurement starts too late to see it.
23 October 2026 · 3 min read
95% of students now use AI. Protecting the value of the degree is now a reputation job.
Almost every undergraduate now uses AI, and the share pasting AI-written text straight into assessed work has quadrupled in two years. If employers start to doubt the grade, they'll doubt the name on the certificate.
21 October 2026 · 3 min read
AI search is already writing your university's reputation
Prospective students and partners increasingly ask an AI assistant before they visit your website. What it says about you is fast becoming one of the most important reputation channels you have.
11 October 2026 · 3 min read
Designing the AI-enabled marketing team
Buying AI tools is the easy part. The teams getting real value have redesigned how work flows, starting with the jobs nobody enjoys.
9 October 2026 · 2 min readEpisodes on this topic.
How to Design an AI-Enabled University Marketing Team
Many marketing teams are a year into an AI pilot with little changed.
18 October 2026 · 4:19
AI Search Is Already Writing Your University's Reputation
A parent or a sixth former asks an AI assistant about your university and gets an answer in seconds, often with no click to your site.
18 October 2026 · 4:25