Australian universities introduce AI chatbots for teaching as student backlash grows

An Australian university has offered students classes with an AI chatbot and minimal human interaction in two subjects, as institutions give the technology more teaching responsibilities.

Macquarie University’s Virtual Peer is part of each week’s learning in two mandatory psychology units, programmed to ask students questions and guide them through scenario-based exercises.

The university said the AI activities were optional and only “supplement” the “core learning” of online readings, quizzes and videos.

However, neither the core nor the AI activities are mandatory. Students are assessed on separate research tasks and exams.

Both subjects had in-person classes in the first semester of this year, but were online-only for the second semester. The university said in-person classes would return in 2027 in alternate semesters so students could pick the format that suited their circumstances.

Previously the online versions of the subjects included optional weekly tutorials with paid academics via Zoom. Material is now taught only by Virtual Peer and other online activities and videos.

One student, who asked to remain anonymous, said they felt “short-changed” after issues with their degree structure forced them to enrol in the online option.

“Instead of a group discussion or a tutor teaching you, it’s a class activity done with a robot,” the student said. “I feel like I’m teaching this robot how to take jobs away from my teachers.”

Macquarie said the tool was designed in partnership with educators to support, not replace, them.

Professors who used Virtual Peer uploaded the information it uses and checked it, the university said, making it more tailored than general-purpose AI tools. Experts say that could make the tool potentially less prone to “hallucination”, or inventing content without evidence. Macquarie can also monitor student conversations on the service, according to the university.

The subjects still have paid tutors who run optional, unstructured Zoom feedback sessions each week. One introductory-level subject has six sessions a week for its 400 students, while the other final-year subject has 10 sessions a week for its 700 students – or roughly one class for every 70 students.

Students who want to speak to a human for feedback are encouraged to attend. Macquarie said attendance at these was variable and rose around assessment due dates.

Each individual psychology subject costs $2,174 for Australian students with commonwealth supported places in 2026. A three-year undergraduate degree now costs over $50,000.

Virtual Peer was also used for learning activities in other subjects but was not available in all classes, Macquarie said.

Its use has accelerated, answering close to 80,000 student questions in all of 2025 but nearly as many in just the first half of 2026, most of which were administrative questions. The university said staff and students overwhelmingly found the tool valuable or recommended its use when surveyed.

Backlash to AI teaching grows

Macquarie has been one of a handful of Australian universities to systematically incorporate AI into teaching, alongside the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney, as the technology attracts growing student use – and backlash.

Meena Jha, an associate professor at Central Queensland University, said she had not previously heard of any universities simultaneously cutting in-person teaching and introducing AI chatbots in her research into AI in higher education.

“Students require that human touch … [and] engagement will be a very big issue if we replace everything with virtual tutors,” said Jha, who is also the head of CQU’s pedagogy and technology cluster.

CQU is piloting its homegrown AI tool, named “Birdy”, as a “service/support tool” in 24 units. Jha has gone further, building an AI avatar in her likeness, named Neena Chatbot, to answer her students’ questions.

“You have to give a bit of time for people to try it, use it, see value in it, and in doing so you need to guide them how they can use it,” Jha said.

The University of Sydney has positioned itself as a leader in the field, with hundreds of academics using its education-focused generative AI platform, “Cogniti”, for chatbots and scenario exercises. It has shared Cogniti with other institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

The university in late August released a discussion paper that envisions futures where AI takes on even greater responsibilities, delivering personalised teaching for each student in each unit, while staff-student contact hours decline.

A university spokesperson said Sydney was only supporting staff to use technology to improve student experience.

“Human judgment, accountability and relationships are essential to everything we do, and can never be replaced by technology,” the spokesperson said. “This isn’t a cost-saving measure in any way.”

Peter Chen, president of the university’s national tertiary education union (NTEU) branch, said the paper had added to growing staff concern about their future at the university as funding shortfalls left fewer academics to run bigger classes.

“For some staff, they’re afraid they’re going to lose their jobs,” Chen said.

“For other staff, the concern is that everything that makes the job worth doing will be lost … and they will be there simply to take the blame when things go wrong.”

The university’s staff plan to go on strike on Wednesday, fighting for AI protections and other support against growing workloads and job insecurity. Chen said the union would not accept a deal that did not address AI.

But Dr Alison Barnes, national president of the NTEU and a Macquarie academic, said staff across the sector would fight for workplace agreements that address AI.

“University staff are being hammered by a workload crisis, but simply papering over those cracks with piecemeal AI rollouts could actually create even more damaging issues,” Barnes said.