Why Responsible AI Is the Next Big Competitive Advantage in Higher Ed

Should higher ed institutions welcome generative AI into their domain with open arms, or approach it with caution? How can these “technological aides” actually be used in ways that are responsible and ethical? These are questions many institutional leaders are asking right now.

Some professionals are raving about the benefits of AI, while others remain wary. They worry it could send out inaccurate or robotic marketing messages, introduce unintentional bias in teaching, or frustrate students with impersonal support. These fears are warranted, which is why it’s important to understand how to make AI work for you, rather than the other way around.

AI should help amplify personalization by automating repetitive work and giving staff and faculty the time to focus on the high-value, human-centered tasks that make higher education meaningful. From assisting in marketing campaigns that reach prospective students to lesson planning and quizzes that adapt to learners’ needs, to chatbots that handle routine questions, AI is a tool that institutions can shape responsibly to strengthen connections rather than diminish them.

Let’s break down exactly how AI can be used across marketing, teaching, and student support, why it’s inevitable, and how to do it ethically, thoughtfully, and effectively.

Marketing & Communications: Leading Students to the “Watering Hole”

Marketing teams in higher education are under immense pressure. You may have only a couple of months to generate campaign ideas, draft emails, social media posts, brochures, and blog content that all align with your institution’s brand, mission, and messaging. Add in the need to appeal to multiple audiences like prospective students, alumni, faculty, donors, and receive stakeholder approval, all before it sets out to the public. It’s understandable why any team might feel stretched thin to perform.

AI as a Partner in Marketing

Generative AI takes on the repetitive, time-consuming parts of marketing, while keeping personalization central. Your marketing team won’t use AI as the final say-so, but it can be helpful during the research, brainstorming, and drafting processes to free up more time for strategic decision-making and editing. AI can come up with email campaigns, social media posts, blog ideas, or even full brochures, guided by your brand guide and messaging standards.

AI can also generate creative campaign ideas and content calendars, suggesting social media themes, blog topics, and messaging angles based on current trends, enrollment goals, or peer institution analysis. AI clears the clutter, teams keep the craft. It reduces the exuberant amount of time spent on production tasks, leaving more space for higher ed marketers to do what they do best: building authentic, strategic narratives that connect with students and stakeholders.

Measuring Marketing Outcomes and Success of AI

Deploying AI without tracking its impact is like running a campaign blindfolded. If institutions are going to utilize AI in marketing, they need to know if it’s improving engagement, satisfaction, or outcomes. Otherwise, it’s not useful at all.

Key Metrics to Track:

1. Student engagement: Are students interacting more with chatbots, emails, or learning content?
2. Conversion rates: Are marketing campaigns driving applications, enrollments, or donor engagement?
3. Satisfaction: Surveys or feedback on AI interactions in support, marketing, or learning contexts.
4. Teaching outcomes: Are students performing better on assessments or engaging more in class?

By tracking outcomes, institutions can refine AI use, optimize workflows, and demonstrate value to leadership.

Frankel’s Responsible Use Tip:

AI shouldn’t replace human judgment. Treat it as a creative co-pilot. It’s important to take measures to review outputs for accuracy, brand alignment, and tone.

Key Takeaways for Higher Ed Leaders:

1. AI helps teams scale content without sacrificing brand voice.
2. Allows marketers to focus on high-level strategy instead of repetitive drafting.
3. Maintains personalization even at scale, turning “automation” into “attention.”
4. Must track whether AI tools are effective across the board.

Teaching: Freeing Educators to Focus on Learning

Faculty face innumerable challenges on a day-to-day basis, juggling lesson planning, grading, office hours, and one-on-one student engagement. A single semester can feel like a rat race against time to make sure all students understand the material while also designing a curriculum that keeps them engaged and prepared.

AI as a Teaching Assistant

Generative AI can help educators design lesson plans, create quizzes, generate practice exercises, and provide explanations of complex topics. By automating the repetitive aspects of teaching, AI frees instructors to focus on individualized instruction and higher-level engagement.

Example:

A professor teaching calculus might use AI to generate multiple versions of practice problems, create step-by-step solutions, or even simulate real-world applications for students. This allows the instructor to spend more time helping students who need extra guidance, holding office hours, or developing engaging, interactive lessons.

AI doesn’t understand nuances quite yet. This is where instructors make the biggest difference. They can ensure all materials make sense without spending time on a draft themselves, and ensure all students get the attention where they need it. With extra time, professors can work on tailoring resources that will better help students understand concepts and maintain a quality education.

Frankel’s Responsible Use Tip:

AI is a tool, not a replacement for teaching or for teaching assistants. Human oversight is crucial to prevent errors and ensure fairness, so that learning remains meaningful. Faculty should review AI-generated content for correctness, relevance, and alignment with course goals.

Key Takeaways for Higher Ed Leaders:

1. AI can handle repetitive lesson prep, grading, or content creation.
2. Faculty can focus on student engagement, mentorship, and higher-order learning.
3. Supports better outcomes by ensuring no student is left behind due to time constraints.

Student Support: Handling the Same Questions, Every Year

Admissions season frenzy is real and competitive. Prospective students rush to the contact page to ask the same questions about admissions deadlines, financial aid forms, housing options, and course requirements, and there just aren’t enough staff to answer them all. Emails pile up, phones ring off the hook, and students can end up feeling like no one has time for them.

Studies show that failing to respond to an inquiry within 5 minutes can exponentially decline the likelihood a lead will close (by more than 80%). In a competitive enrollment environment, delayed responses can directly impact applications. Prospective students may decide to attend an institution that responds more quickly and consistently. AI works to field these inquiries and give more time to staff in answering the tougher questions.

AI as Frontline Support

A chatbot can make a real difference. It handles the repetitive, straightforward questions so your institution can focus on the complex, high-touch issues that really need human attention. Students get the answers they need, when they need them, and they feel seen.

Example:

A student asks, “What documents do I need for financial aid?” Instead of waiting days for an email response, the chatbot provides a step-by-step answer immediately. It can also direct students to additional resources or schedule appointments for more complicated issues.

Frankel’s Responsible Use Tip:

Maintain human oversight. AI should escalate sensitive questions and never replace human judgment in cases requiring empathy, nuance, or policy interpretation.

Key Takeaways for Higher Ed Leaders:

1. AI can improve student satisfaction by providing instant, reliable answers.
2. Helps institutions scale support without increasing staff headcount.
3. Maintains a human-centered approach to service, making students feel valued.

Why Generative AI is Inevitable in Higher Ed

A 2024 survey of The Higher Learning Commission (HLC) found 74% of member institutions use generative AI, and a separate 2025 study of R1 universities found 63% encouraged its use. According to EdTech Magazine, more generative AI tools are becoming readily available thanks to integration in productivity suites. This puts higher ed faculty and students at an advantage because they won’t have to source the best AI tools themselves—the institution provides them.

With institutions making an effort to have generative AI more available, it’s only a matter of time before every institution is touting a suite of AI tools to streamline repetitive tasks. The only cause for concern here, then, is how we can utilize AI ethically.

Ethical Guidelines, Bias Mitigation, and Human Oversight

AI isn’t perfect. It reflects the data it’s trained on, which can introduce bias or inaccuracies. In higher ed, biased outputs could affect admissions messaging, grading tools, or student recommendations if relied on heavily. Ethical use and human oversight are critical to maintain trust. EdTech recommends not to use AI for anything that involves human health or safety, so while it can handle making sense of data or summarizing charts you input manually, it should not be making decisions for you.

Best Practices:

1. Set clear policies and guidelines for AI use across marketing, teaching, and student support.
2. Review AI outputs regularly for accuracy, bias, and alignment with institutional values.
3. Train AI on diverse, representative data to avoid reinforcing stereotypes.
4. Ensure human oversight in high-stakes decisions, sensitive communications, and grading.

Adopting AI Responsibly is a Strategic Advantage

The conversation around AI often defaults to fear: robots taking over, losing personalization, or compromising quality. The opposite is true. AI is a tool that enables personalization at scale when used responsibly. Marketing becomes more targeted and creative; teaching becomes more adaptive and individualized; student support becomes faster, more reliable, and human-centered.

Generative AI, guided by humans, is a force multiplier that can free staff and faculty to focus on the work that truly matters, which is connecting with students, fostering learning, and building your institution’s mission.

The question today isn’t whether institutions should adopt it, but how to adopt it responsibly. Done well, AI enhances personalization, efficiency, and engagement across marketing, teaching, and student support.

For higher education leaders, this is an opportunity to:

1. Empower marketing teams to scale personalized outreach without losing brand voice.
2. Support faculty in creating meaningful, high-touch learning experiences.
3. Ensure student support is timely, consistent, and human-centered.

AI May Be Inevitable, But Great Marketing Remains Human

Everyone says, “AI is here, hop on board.” But what’s missing is the how. How can it actually make your work easier? How can we utilize it responsibly? How can we connect if a robot speaks for us?

We believe AI should empower people, not replace them. AI has incredible potential in higher education by handling repetitive tasks, supporting students with timely responses, or assisting faculty with administrative work, but AI only works when humans guide it. That same principle applies to marketing. The best campaigns are powered by strategy, creativity, and real human connection.

At Frankel, we’re here to help your institution do more with its resources, scale personalized campaigns, and strengthen engagement with your audiences, all while keeping messaging and branding authentically human. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your institution make an impact.