‘AI is a Trojan horse, and Everyone Knows the Greeks are Inside.’

How is AI Being Used in Education?

By Lily Crawford

Generative Artificial Intelligence is everywhere. It’s in the Instagram reels your mum sends you of dogs doing Gangnam Style. It’s in the tacky posters for freshers week events. It’s in the deepfakes of political figures playing Minecraft together. You might’ve even used it to help research your last writing assignment. AI is undoubtedly one of the most controversial topics in the news right now, and for good reason; As Christopher Nolan put it, “AI is a Trojan horse, and everyone knows the Greeks are inside.”

Students at Queen’s University Belfast recently received an email from Queen’s Communications Office outlining “AI in Education: A framework for the Responsible and Effective use of AI in Teaching, Learning, Support and Assessment”, approved in June 2026. The university takes a broadly positive approach to AI: They aim to “harness AI ethically and effectively” to aid both students and staff, stressing that “AI will augment, not replace, the expertise and mentorship of educators.”

For assessments, AI use falls into three categories: prohibited, permitted with limitations, or required as part of the task. Where AI is permitted, students may be required to declare how and what tools they used, with non-disclosure constituting an academic offence. Saying this, QUB also does not consider current AI-detection tools to be “sufficiently reliable for identifying AI-generated text,” and they “will not be used as a basis for decision-making in academic misconduct processes.” The university takes the view that AI literacy is a key part of students’ graduate capabilities and employability, and they are simply embracing the inevitable.

AI is already being incorporated into education through Panopto, which students will recognise as the software used to catch up on lectures when a hangover wins against making the 9 AM class. It has been described by Queen’s as an “institutionally supported video-enhanced learning platform, designed for securely recording, managing, and sharing educational video content.” [1] It is used by 22 of the world’s top 25 universities primarily to record live teaching sessions and share pre-recorded content, including lectures and lab demonstrations. [2]

Introduced in October 2024, Elai, Panopto’s AI Video Studio, boasts the ability to turn “scripts, slides, and documents into polished, avatar-led videos—without a camera, studio, or production team.” [3] This technology saw significant developments over the summer. On June 30th 2026, they released the ability to “automatically generate quizzes directly from your existing content with no manual question writing needed.” [4] On July 9th, they rolled out a feature which allows users to “personalise AI-generated voices with greater control and flexibility.” [5]

Finally, just before the beginning of the new school year, they announced the exciting ability to generate a lecture, complete with chapters and narration scripts, and the resulting content can be “assembled into a finished video, all without touching the browser UI or relying on streaming endpoints.” These new tools, combined with the swathes of learning material available online, can theoretically remove lecturers from teaching entirely. Queen’s is voting with their wallet when they pay for this service: Under QUB’s AI Framework, would this still count as “augmenting, not replacing” educators?

Another tool QUB pays handsomely for is Turnitin, an online service used to compare student assignments against a database of 45 billion+ websites to detect plagiarism. [6] The company has recently faced backlash after it announced planned changes to the licence agreement, in which students’ work could be used to teach AI models. [7]

The University of York Students’ Union raised concerns on this matter, with one representative adding, “If your university is using Turnitin and it’s using student-submitted work to train AI services, you can’t meaningfully consent to that because you have to submit your work to get marked.” Turnitin was forced to backtrack on this matter, saying that their policy would not be updated any earlier than September 2027 to “give us time to discuss any changes with customers”. Queen’s University, which also subscribes to TurnitinUK, did not comment on the boycott: When September 2027 rolls around, where will they stand on this policy?

Students at the University of York aren’t the only ones concerned about GenAI usage. In September, lecturers at Trinity College Dublin expressed a “responsibility” to resist generative AI, arguing that heavy reliance on chatbots goes against the core purpose of independent college learning.

In an interview, they said, “While the dominant narrative may be that GenAI is an indispensable technology that will revolutionise education, health and our economy, we are part of a growing community of deeply concerned teachers who see it as their responsibility to resist this narrative of inevitability.” [8]

As a second-year Software Engineering student, I’m no stranger to Generative AI. Future career opportunities have completely changed since I chose to study Computer Science at A-level, and the job market is almost unrecognisable compared to when I made my first program on Scratch.

The proportion of computer science graduates finding professional jobs as coders or programmers has fallen from about 40% previously to just 28% last year. [9] And this is a trend seen across all industries; According to job search engine Adzuna, graduate job vacancies in the UK have sunk to their lowest level since they started being tracked a decade ago. [10]

Queen’s has welcomed the Trojan Horse through the city gates: It’s yet to be seen when, and how, we will have to face the consequences.

Students, if you choose to use AI, do so with integrity and caution. Don’t stumble into the path of least resistance – go to the library.

References:

[1] “Explore Panopto – Queen’s Video Capture and Management Suite – Queen’s DigiHub.” 2023. Queen’s DigiHub. December 6, 2023. https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/digitallearning/staff/digital-teaching/qub-digital-tools/panopto/.

[2] Panopto Team. 2026. “Lecture Recording Software: The Complete 2026 Guide.” Panopto. May 7, 2026. https://www.panopto.com/blog/lecture-recording-software-guide/.

[3] “Video Content Creation Platform for Enterprise | Panopto.” 2026. Panopto. June 4, 2026. https://www.panopto.com/capabilities/content-creation/.

[4] Parker, Brianna. 2026. “Elai – Introducing AI Quizzing – June 30Th, 2026.” Panopto Community. June 29, 2026. https://community.panopto.com/discussion/2952/elai-introducing-ai-quizzing-june-30th-2026.

[5] Parker, Brianna. 2026. “Elai – Voice Customization – July 9th, 2026.” Panopto Community. July 6, 2026. https://community.panopto.com/discussion/2956/elai-voce-customization-july-9th-2026.

[6] “TurnitinUK.” 2021. QUBelfast. October 2021. https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/academic-services/CentreforEducationalDevelopment/UsefulInformation/Turn itinUK/.

[7] Cheer, Seb. 2026. “York Uni Students’ Fears over Turnitin Essay-Checker AI Plan.” BBC News, September 24, 2026. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c920v288gjd7o. Responsibility [8] Kelly, Clare, Katja Bruisch, and Caitríona Leahy. 2025. “Opinion: We Are Lecturers in Trinity College Dublin. It Is Our to Resist AI.” The Irish Times. September 4, 2025. https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2025/09/04/opinion-we-are-lecturers-in-trinity-college-we-see-it-as-our-respo nsibility-to-resist-ai/.

[9] Adams, Richard. 2026. “AI May Be Denting Computer Science Graduates’ Job Prospects, UK Data Shows.” The Guardian. The Guardian. September 12, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/sep/12/ai-computer-science-graduates-job-prospects-uk-data.

[10] Daniel, Alex. 2026. “UK Graduate Job Vacancies Plunge to Lowest in a Decade.” The Guardian. The Guardian. August 24, 2026. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/aug/24/uk-graduate-job-vacancies-plunge-adzuna.