site.btaExperts Discuss Major Challenges Facing Higher Education in Age of AI

Leading experts from the education and scientific sectors discussed the challenges facing education on Friday during the panel discussion Transforming Higher Education through Innovation and Scientific Research held within the Green Transition Forum 5.0. The forum is taking place at the Sofia Event Center and is organized by the Green Transition Forum and Dir.bg, with the Bulgarian News Agency as media partner.

Council of Rectors Chair Miglena Temelkova said that the biggest challenge for any educational institution is how to prepare students for jobs of the future that may not even exist in the next 10, 15, or 20 years. She stressed that today’s students must be educated in an interdisciplinary manner, rather than only as specialists in a single field.

Bulgarian Academy of Sciences President Evelina Slavcheva highlighted the importance of fundamental knowledge and scientific research. “No matter how inspiring innovations are, they require a foundation - fundamental knowledge and fundamental scientific research,” she said. Slavcheva noted that new technologies often capture public attention, but behind them lie long-term and less visible scientific studies that demand time, silence, and in-depth work.

Former innovation minister Milena Stoycheva (2023-2024) emphasized the need for a responsible approach to new technologies. “Artificial intelligence (AI) is simply the new, next wave of high technology. Just like the internet was before, now it is AI,” she said. Stoycheva called for a long-term vision in the field of AI and stressed the importance of considering the impact of this technology over the next one or two decades.

Academic Director of Master’s Programmes at the American University in Bulgaria, Momtchil Karpouzanov, expressed concerns about the use of AI in education. “I am personally very critical of the overly liberal approach that many of our students might take. With every wave of enthusiasm, critical thinking becomes even more essential,” he said.