On September 3, 2025, a lecture hall at Simon Fraser University hosted a moment that feels closer to science fiction than to the routines of academic life. Students gathered expecting a professor at the podium, but instead found two fingers waiting. One is Steve DiPaola, a familiar human presence, and beside him is Kia, three-dimensional artificial intelligence rendered with startling realism. The digital figure meets the audience with a direct gaze, smiles at the right moment, and speaks in...

For centuries, higher education benefited from the scarcity of knowledge. Universities held the key to specialised information, and society paid a high price for the degrees and expertise that only these institutions could provide. This monopoly is no more. Professors were the guardians of wisdom, lecture theatres the places where it was passed on, and libraries the guarded vaults of human progress. Artificial intelligence now produces literature reviews in seconds and explains complex theories.

Economies worldwide have been designed to grow with economic growth seen as the ultimate goal for any country to the extent that a...