Should colleges use AI in admissions?

Higher Ed Dive

Lilah Burke

July 18, 2023

In 2013, the computer science department at the University of Texas at Austin started using a homemade machine learning algorithm to help faculty make graduate admissions decisions. Seven years later the system was abandoned, attracting criticism that it shouldn’t have been used.

The algorithm was based on previous admissions decisions and saved faculty members’ time. It used things like attendance at an “elite” university or letters of recommendation with the word “best” in them as predictive of admission. 

The university said the system never made admissions decisions on its own, as at least one faculty member would look over the recommendations. But detractors said that it encoded and legitimized any bias present in admissions decisions.

Today, artificial intelligence is in the limelight. ChatGPT, an AI chatbot that generates human-like dialogue, has created significant buzz and renewed a conversation about what parts of human life and labor might be easily automated.

Despite the criticism lobbied at systems like the one used previously by UT Austin, some universities and admissions officers are still clamoring to use AI to streamline the acceptance process. And companies are eager to help them.

“It’s picked up drastically,” said Abhinand Chincholi, CEO of OneOrigin, an artificial intelligence company. “The announcement of GPT — ChatGPT’s kind of technology — now has made everyone wanting AI.”

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