Guest and van Rooij warn AI is hollowing out universities

A manifesto by cognitive scientists at Radboud University argues that universities should actively resist the inevitability narrative around AI in academia, not accommodate it. Olivia Guest and Iris van Rooij co-authored "Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia" with more than a dozen colleagues; the piece was published in Digital Culture & Education in 2026.

On The Data Fix podcast with host Dr. Mél Hogan, Guest, van Rooij and co-author Andrea Reyes Elizondo frame their position in stark institutional terms. "The risk of AI adoption is that it'll hollow out the institutions first, and then society at large," the episode warns, which is where its one-word title comes from.

The authors draw an explicit historical parallel. "From combustion engines to tobacco, universities have been used in the past to whitewash now-controversial products," Guest told Radboud University's own research news in a related interview. Van Rooij adds a funding concern: "A lot of academic research on AI currently is also funded by the AI industry, which creates the risk of distorting scientific knowledge."

Their critique is procedural as much as substantive. "AI is often introduced into our classrooms and research environments without proper debate or consent," van Rooij says. The manifesto calls for prohibiting AI use in classrooms, scrutinizing it in university software systems, countering AI hype in institutional communications, and strengthening academic freedom for researchers who publicly criticize AI.

Guest's pedagogical warning is specific: uncritical AI adoption "can lead to students not developing essential academic skills such as critical thinking and writing." Van Rooij puts the institutional stake more bluntly. "Universities are not tech companies," she says. "Our role is to foster critical thinking, not to follow industry trends uncritically."