Teaching international relations: How AI redefines universities
The sooner universities embrace transformation, the better equipped they will be to thrive in the future
How many International Relations (IR) professors have used Google’s new AI tool NotebookkLM? Just wondering, because it basically makes what you do everyday, absolutely pointless!
We teach basic courses like Introductory IR and Case Studies in Strategic Culture, or advanced courses in our own fields, like Dynamics of Asian Business or Security Concepts in the Asia-Pacific - and they’re all pretty much pointless. Every book on your course list can be turned into an informative lecture, a study guide, a timeline, study notes, study questions and answers, or podcasts and soon videos using NotebookkLM.
On top of all that, at the bottom of your heart, you know that nobody actually needs a degree in IR. Sure, they need a degree to get into a graduate program to work as a public servant, but do they really? It’s true, a public servant needs to be intelligent, but is Asian Business or Security Concepts in the Asia-Pacific really needed? No! And if it was, they could pick it up in a micro-creden…