Future ready: Zambry (far right) chatting with students at the Taylor’s 16th International Teaching and Learning Conference. With him is Taylor’s education group chairman Datuk Loy Teik Ngan.
AS Malaysia embraces digitalisation and new technologies, universities must ensure that critical thinking, creativity, and empathy are not displaced, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.
He said the Malaysian Higher Education Blueprint 2025–2035, outlines three key priorities —advancing artificial intelligence (AI) integration, embedding sustainability, and transforming curriculum design, which are aimed at balancing technological advancement with human values and intellectual depth.
“While we are pursuing our digital transformation policy, we must strike a balance between technology and values.
“Technology must serve human growth. It must shape our thinking, not weaken it,” he said, stressing that education must produce individuals with both competencies and character, to ensure holistic personality development.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of Taylor’s University’s 16th International Teaching and Learning Conference at its Lakeside Campus on Sept 11, Zambry also said universities have a responsibility to align their work with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
The conference, themed “Higher Education in the Age of AI: Transforming Learning for Sustainable Futures”, convened global academics, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders to address higher education’s most pressing issues across three sub-themes: AI, education for sustainable development, and curriculum innovation.
The conference also spotlighted Taylor’s Impact Labs, where over 210 industry and non-governmental organisation partners collaborate with the university to address pressing challenges such as urban poverty, food security, and climate change.
“Sustainability is a way of living. It builds empathy, cultivates responsibility, and reminds us that our actions today shape tomorrow’s world.
“And, it must be reflected in how we manage our institutions, in the research we prioritise and in the way we connect with our communities,” Zambry said.
On curriculum transformation, he said higher education institutions should innovate by introducing micro-credentials, embedding volunteerism, and expanding global mobility opportunities.
“These approaches will expose students to real-world challenges and prepare them to adapt.
“Graduates must be shaped by the challenges of the world, not sheltered from them,” he said.
The event also marked the conferment of Self-Accreditation Status on Taylor’s University by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) (see sidebar), which was followed by a plenary session on how universities can adopt AI responsibly.
Taylor’s University senior director of learning innovation and development Assoc Prof Dr Lim Chee Leong said AI is already reshaping the way students learn and lecturers teach, but cautioned that its adoption must go beyond surface-level excitement.
He noted that while AI tools could act as learning and teaching assistants, many institutions worldwide had struggled to adopt AI effectively.
“Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that 95% of generative AI pilot projects failed, not because of the AI itself, but because organisations avoided the hardest parts: changing mindsets, upskilling staff, and rethinking workflows.
“If excitement for AI is not matched by tangible outcomes, the world risks an ‘AI bubble’ similar to the dot-com crash.
“AI is not just automation. It is a catalyst for transformation. Universities must move beyond small-scale pilots to large-scale, purposeful adoption,” he said.
Meanwhile, Prof Dr Zaidatun Tasir from the Faculty of Educational Sciences and Technology at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, emphasised the potential of AI to personalise learning.
She said customised AI chat systems can boost creativity, and serve as personal tutors but universities must not overlook the need for guidance in its use.
“AI should not just provide answers, it should ask students questions too. This way, it becomes a creativity booster and a partner in learning, not just an efficiency tool.
“If we want students who can innovate, AI must be designed and used to stretch their imagination. Otherwise, we will create a generation of passive consumers of information. Critical use of AI must become part of the curriculum, not left to chance,” she said.
Chiming in, Taylor’s University School of Education head Assoc Prof Dr Logendra Stanley Ponniah said AI offers solutions to the challenge of personalising learning in large classes.
“When you have classes of 50, 100, sometimes 200 students, how do you give individual attention? That is where AI comes in.
“It’s like having a teaching assistant who never sleeps. However, it cannot replace the empathy, intuition, and judgement of a human educator,” he said, stressing on the importance of ethics in AI use.
“We cannot let AI become a shortcut that robs students of resilience. Education is not just about answers; it is about the struggle to understand. AI must support that struggle, not erase it,” he said.
While AI can be used for doing groundwork, the human side of teaching and learning will always be essential, Taylor’s pro vice-chancellor Prof Darren Bagnall concluded.
