AI is another tool in higher ed, not a threat to it, EKU expert says
By Curtis Tate, Tom Martin
March 26, 2026 at 6:00 AM EDT
Artificial Intelligence is creating new opportunities and challenges in higher education.
In an interview with Eastern Standard, Lisa Blue, director of artificial intelligence strategies at Eastern Kentucky University, discussed how AI fits into the curriculum.
Blue says AI is a tool that, if used properly, can help students and faculty accomplish their goals. She compares it to other technologies that were initially disruptive to academia.
“When the internet came along, it's going to destroy higher education, because students can just go on the internet and find what they need. Not true. We had the same argument with graphing calculators, general calculators. In the beginning, students aren't going to learn how to do math because they've got these tools that do it for them.”
“It's disruptive in the beginning, until we figure out how to assimilate this new tool into the learning landscape, and then we learn how to use it effectively, to do more than we were able to do previously. AI is going to be the same.”
Listen to more of this interview with Lisa Blue on Eastern Standard, on WEKU.
In an interview with Eastern Standard, Lisa Blue, director of artificial intelligence strategies at Eastern Kentucky University, discussed how AI fits into the curriculum.
Blue says AI is a tool that, if used properly, can help students and faculty accomplish their goals. She compares it to other technologies that were initially disruptive to academia.
“When the internet came along, it's going to destroy higher education, because students can just go on the internet and find what they need. Not true. We had the same argument with graphing calculators, general calculators. In the beginning, students aren't going to learn how to do math because they've got these tools that do it for them.”
“It's disruptive in the beginning, until we figure out how to assimilate this new tool into the learning landscape, and then we learn how to use it effectively, to do more than we were able to do previously. AI is going to be the same.”
Listen to more of this interview with Lisa Blue on Eastern Standard, on WEKU.