In this episode of the Open University Praxis Podcast, host Dr Olivia Kelly is joined by sociologist Dr Mark Carrigan, Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Manchester and AI Fellow at the Institute for Teaching and Learning. Mark’s work has been central to understanding how digital platforms, from early social media to today’s large language models, are reshaping academic practice, identity, and community.
Together, Olivia and Mark explore the rapid rise of generative AI and its profound implications for higher education. Their conversation moves beyond the usual task‑based narratives to examine the deeper sociological issues including:
- How AI is transforming the ‘invisible labour’ of teaching, marking and student support
- What tensions emerge when academics use AI to cope with workload pressures while students are warned against it
- How trust between students, staff and institutions is being reshaped by AI-mediated communication
- Why discipline-based conversations matter for developing meaningful AL norms and policies.
Mark also reflects on the psychological impact of AI on academic work, the risks of accelerating already‑intense workloads, and the urgent need for collective, rather than individualised, responses to technological change. This is a rich, nuanced discussion for anyone interested in the future of scholarship, the ethics of AI in education, and the shifting landscape of academic life.
Mark Carrigan 