CONFERENCE AI is changing university rankings, but human judgment still matters, experts say

Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping both universities and the systems used to evaluate them, but trust, human judgment and real-world impact will become more important as the technology advances, senior officials from two major global university ranking organizations said Tuesday.

Speaking at the 2026 Korea Times Global Conference, representatives from Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and Times Higher Education (THE) discussed how AI is changing the way universities are assessed — from the data used in rankings to broader questions over what higher education should ultimately deliver for society.

Leigh Kamolins, vice president of evaluation and insights at QS, said AI is allowing ranking organizations to analyze a broader range of information with greater precision, including data on skills and how effectively universities prepare students for the workforce.

“One thing AI will allow us, these new tech approaches to university rankings, is providing us the opportunity to really provide a much broader and stronger evidence base for what we are doing,” Kamolins said during the conference at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry building.

He said AI can help validate and clarify data sources more accurately while opening access to new datasets that shed light on areas such as skills development and workforce readiness, but stressed that QS does not rank universities based simply on their adoption or development of AI technology.

He noted that QS is the only major global ranking provider to incorporate graduate employability into its methodology, while also offering tools such as the QS AI Capability Framework to help universities assess and track how AI is being integrated into their research and institutional operations.

But Kamolins warned that greater use of AI in rankings cannot replace expert judgment.

“One thing that is absolutely critical is that we keep the expertise in making those critical choices as we go through this. AI cannot replace that. We need that to really come through and this is how we maintain trust in this type of analysis,” he said.

He said AI-generated benchmarks and datasets can provide useful information but may fail to identify what truly matters unless experts determine which questions should be asked and how the results should be interpreted.

“Trust is going to matter more than ever before. Those rankings will only be meaningful if we ask the right questions (and) bring the right expertise and agency into that decision-making,” Kamolins said.

“The winners in the AI era are not going to be those that have the most data, but they will be those that have the clearest purpose, the strongest judgment and the capacity to take in this insight and turn this into a real passion within their institutions.”

Mei Mei Lim, Asia-Pacific region president of THE, likewise said AI is changing not only university rankings but the fundamental nature of universities themselves.

“AI, the reason why we are here today, is basically changing the way knowledge is created," Lim said.

But she said the widespread adoption of similar AI technologies could also make universities appear increasingly alike, creating greater pressure for institutions to identify and develop their distinctive strengths.

“What this means is every university starts to look the same,” she said. “What we see is an opportunity for you to leverage your strengths together with AI — and that will be what makes you unique.”

Lim argued that university evaluations should move beyond measuring how much research or knowledge institutions produce and focus instead on what that work changes in the real world. She said that as AI accelerates the production of research and knowledge, conventional output-based metrics may become less meaningful.

“We should perhaps think about not just measuring output anymore, but measuring impact — what it actually changes.”

She also pointed to AI as a potential tool for reducing Korea's heavy concentration of workers and opportunities in Seoul.

“We see here another opportunity for Korea,” Lim said, referring to government efforts to strengthen regional universities. “AI could reinforce Korea's concentration around Seoul or it could redistribute that opportunity to other regions.”

She cited Hanyang University and Pusan National University as prime examples of such institutions ranking high on THE’s list by making tangible, positive contributions locally through research and technology, alongside universities in China, Singapore and Malaysia.

Lim said Korean universities should also look beyond their local communities and ensure their research and technological achievements reach international audiences.

With universities facing demographic change, rapid AI adoption and shifting social expectations, she said greater emphasis should be placed on research that can travel across borders and on partnerships that allow institutions to extend their impact globally.

“By 2035, there becomes a greater focus then on research that travels ... There should therefore be a focus on how we share that research and industry with the rest of the world, (and) how we then form our partnerships as well,” she said.