Why Indian universities can’t wait on AI policy

Earlier this week, Open AI announced that it will distribute 5 lakh free ChatGPT Plus subscriptions to educators across India. The company is in talks with the government to expand its role in the country’s education. This follows Google’s announcement of a free one-year subscription to Google AI Pro plans for all students in the country.

The Large Language Model (LLM) giants are battling at as Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a distant concept for Indian students. It is already re-shaping how they learn, research, and write. The latest evidence for this academic reality comes from the first-of-its-kind survey among over 600 college students in students in Delhi, conducted by the Center of Policy Research and Governance (CPRG), a public policy think-tank. 

The scale of AI adoption amongst students is striking: 23% use it daily, 43% use AI several times a week, and only 1% never use it. Unlike the gradual shift from print to the internet, AI has already become integral to learning. The CPRG survey also shows the diverse application of AI: 84% use it for research, 76% for writing, 68% for understanding complex subjects, and 63% for editing. Interestingly, about half use it as a tool for practicing problems, reflecting that students view it more as a thinking and drafting partner, rather than a rote drill tool.

The speed of AI is valued: 58% call it highly efficient for managing workload but are cautious in trusting it – just 6% consider it highly accurate, and less than half (45%) rate it as moderately accurate. This gap between speed and reliability is crucial for policymakers and AI companies. Students welcome AI for time management and clarity, but still prefer traditional teaching for engagement and deeper learning. The CPRG data further reveals this tension: while 46% students prefer AI-based tools, an equal share find traditional, human-led methods more engaging.

This is not a story of AI replacing teachers, but of students seeking a balanced approach, using AI to accelerate routine tasks and free up time, while still valuing mentorship and classroom interaction for higher-order thinking. This is an important insight for the AI giants who are seeking to replace ed-tech companies and orthodox teaching methods. 

Yet, despite this widespread and nuanced use, most Indian universities have not caught up. The absence of defined AI policies leaves students and faculty in a grey zone. Some teachers ban AI outright, others quietly allow it, and students are left to guess. This confusion is a missed opportunity.

The CPRG survey exposes the risks of this inaction. 70% report encountering hallucinations, plagiarism, or poor customisation. Without guidance, students navigate these pitfalls alone, increasing the risk of mistakes and misconduct. Due to free subscriptions and relatively affordable paid plans for the Indian market, access to and AI usage among students are likely to grow further. 

Why does this matter so much now? AI is not just transforming study habits – it is also reconfiguring workplace skills. The software industry, the engine of India’s service sector, is facing headwinds as AI automates routing, coding, and basic web development. What matters now is the ability to frame problems, design systems, evaluate outputs, and integrate AI responsibly.

The FREE-AI Committee Report (2025) of the Reserve Bank of India notes that AI is redefining tasks and demands higher-order skills. Similarly, NITI Aayog’s National AI strategy (2018) puts education at the centre of inclusive, future-ready growth, stressing capacity building, privacy, and accountability.

Around the world, leading institutions and governments are moving quickly to set clear, practical AI policies, each model offering different learnings. Harvard University, for example, has issued guidelines that require course-level rules, explicit disclosure of AI use, and strong privacy protections.

Students are encouraged never to outsource thinking to AI and to cite its use transparently. The White House has released a national directive on AI in education, calling for early exposure, teacher support, and equity, signalling that policy clarity a global norm.

The Singapore model has integrated AI literacy into its national curriculum starting from secondary school. Its universities use “AI-Ready” frameworks: mandatory ethics modules, hands-on training in prompt engineering, and academic integrity guidelines. The focus is on preparing students to use AI as a tool for innovation, while maintaining strict standards for originality and disclosure.

China has gone further, embedding AI education into its national strategy, mandating AI courses in universities, and setting national standards for its use in teaching and assessment. All these examples have one common trend: clarity, consistency, and integration.

What can Indian universities do, given this global context and the emerging trends highlighted by the CRPG study? Two key principles should be central to any approach: ensuring academic excellence by increasing AI literacy while at the same time, preserving factual-and objective integrity. 

Indian universities may start by acknowledging the reality: AI use is widespread and growing. Pretending otherwise only drives it underground, further isolating students. Like calculators in mathematics, AI should be integrated into learning. AI literacy should be a goal including teaching prompt engineering and enabling students to undertake AI development. Access gaps should be addressed by providing infrastructure, tools, and training to students. 

Policies can set out three zones of AI use: allowed with disclosure (e.g. brainstorming, editing), limited with boundaries (e.g. coding support, translation), and not allowed with a rationale (e.g. exam testing).

Assessments can be redesigned in line with the National Education Policy, which rewards judgement, process, and originality, and not just recall and rote learning. Students could be asked to reflect on how they used AI. Additionally, universities themselves can deploy AI to improve administration, including attendance, scheduling, support services, etc.

Most importantly, universities must communicate these policies simply and clearly, updating them regularly. When students understand both the rules and the rationale, they are more likely to act responsibly.

The CPRG survey is a wake-up call. Indian students already inhabit an AI-powered world. The risks of widening digital divides and shallow learning are real. But so are the opportunities: AI can help bridge learning gaps, personalise teaching, and support students at unimaginable scales.

With a nimble approach and continuous reassessment, Indian universities can prepare graduates for a future where AI is not an optional add-on but a basic tool of the trade.

The time to act is now.

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