ASU president Michael Crow pushes AI as education equalizer
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ASU president Michael Crow says AI is the tool humanity has awaited. Photo: Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Annual Summit
ASU president Michael Crow can't get enough of AI. He consistently uses nine separate platforms, including one he can converse with during his morning hikes.
The big picture: To him — a man so "obsessed with the way knowledge was organized" that he spent his undergrad years pulling one book from every classification range in the Iowa State University library — AI is the tireless reference librarian he's always wanted.
- It's also the great education equalizer, allowing anyone to access anything in a manner they can understand, he said.
Why it matters: Crow argues AI can become a force-multiplying, boundary-busting tool — one that helps replace higher education's "industrial" model with more personalized learning.
- His philosophy stands apart from that of many university leaders who frame AI primarily as a cheating risk.
The latest: Crow shared his vision during an artificial intelligence literacy event hosted by EqualAI, a national nonprofit that helps institutions establish AI oversight structures to build trust in the technology.
State of play: ASU has made AI tools "ubiquitously available" to all students, encourages educators to integrate them into classrooms and brought on Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am to teach a class on "the agentic self," Crow said.
- ASU offers AI training but stops short of requiring it, with Crow saying innovation spreads best through enablement, not mandates.
Between the lines: He said he believes much of the hesitancy surrounding AI at other institutions stems from a fear of how the technology will impact faculty or existing programs.
- That framing ignores that traditional education methods do not work for everyone, something Crow said is evident, given there are 40 million Americans who attended college but never graduated.
- "People are not thinking about the learner. They're not thinking about, 'How do we get more kids educated … inexpensively,'" Crow said. "They're thinking about, 'What does this mean for my job?'"
The intrigue: Crow downplayed alarmist fears, arguing AI — like any tool — requires thoughtful design and management.
- He suggested the fear surrounding AI is less about the technology itself and more about the possibility of being replaced, a pattern repeated throughout history.
What they're saying: "The second that change stops, we become static. And when we become static, we can't evolve. And if we can't evolve, you're dead," he said.
1 for the road: Crow, infamous for weaving historical tidbits into his speeches, told the audience how Socrates did not believe in written language because he thought it "weakened the mind."
- To him, today's AI skepticism echoes that ancient fear.