AI has moved into universities’ engine room, but no one is at the controls

Skip to main content AI has moved into universities’ engine room, but no one is at the controls Ever more processes rely on artificial intelligence, yet our governance is still stuck at the level of ‘is it OK for students to use ChatGPT in essays?’, says Tom Smith Published on January 19, 2026 Last updated February 6, 2026 Tom Smith Share on bluesky Share on linkedin Share on twitter Share on facebook Share on mail 11 Source: ES3N/iStock By now,
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AI grades handwritten math by reading the page with specialized handwriting recognition, then evaluating each step of a solution rather than just the final answer. Here is how that pipeline works and where it still breaks down.
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