AI skills for tomorrow
AI skills for tomorrow: Why universities need to act urgently now
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Today, the performance of AI systems is only limited by storage capacity, processing speed and data availability - no longer by intellectual limits.
Generative AI has reached the level of the average human on key benchmarks and already clearly surpasses it in specialized domains. Humanoid robots are winning half-marathons, AI systems are creating professional floor plans, and Anthropics Claude Code caused IBM's share price to plummet by 13.2 % in a single day in February 2026. These developments are not only changing business models, they are also posing fundamentally new questions for higher education.
Prof. Dr. Dirk Schmalzried shows which professions and sectors are particularly affected: from architecture and the transport sector to the education sector itself. The focus is on the question of which skills students need in order to survive in an AI-influenced job market: technological AI knowledge, innovation and transformation skills, basic legal knowledge and intrapersonal resilience. Lively practical examples - from AI-generated bachelor theses to complete social media campaigns - will illustrate what AI tools can already achieve today.
The presentation also shows that university didactics must react: The traditional written thesis, in which primarily the final product is assessed, is obsolete in its current form. Examination formats must evolve from purely checking results to competence- and process-oriented forms of assessment that make critical thinking, methodological depth and AI-savvy handling visible. The curriculum of the future must promote exponential thinking. At the same time, new data protection solutions are needed so that universities can use AI tools in teaching in a legally compliant manner.
After the presentation, there will be time for questions and an exchange of ideas.
About the speaker:
Dirk Schmalzried is Professor of Information Systems with a focus on e-business at the Ernst Abbe University of Applied Sciences Jena. He has been teaching and researching in the fields of business informatics, e-commerce and artificial intelligence since 2020. His many years of professional experience in software development, implementation and consulting, including as managing director of a software company and numerous projects in AI development, characterize his application-oriented teaching style.
Event information:
Registration is not required. The online room opens 15 minutes before the official start.
Talks@eTeach is a format of the eTeach network Thuringia, which offers space for impulses from teaching practice, exchange of experience and networking on the subject of media-enhanced teaching, learning and testing.
The events take place every two months in hybrid form or online and are aimed at lecturers, students and interested parties.
>>> Here you can find past talks.
