“AI AND THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION ASSESSMENT”

by Prof. Pedro Isaias
Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University), Portugal

ABSTRACT

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly influencing how assessment is designed, delivered and interpreted in higher education. Its use extends beyond the automation of grading to areas such as formative assessment, personalised feedback, adaptive learning, learning analytics, academic integrity and student support. At the same time, the growing integration of AI into assessment raises important questions concerning transparency, accountability, privacy, bias, academic judgement and the credibility of evidence of student learning.

This keynote examines the adoption and non-adoption of AI-enabled assessment in higher education through a comparative study conducted in 2024 and 2026. It explores how university teachers’ perceptions, practices and intentions regarding AI-supported assessment have evolved during a period of rapid technological and institutional change. Particular attention is given to the purposes for which AI is being used, the perceived benefits and barriers associated with its adoption, and the factors that continue to influence lecturers’ willingness to incorporate AI into assessment practices.

The keynote also examines the distinctive capabilities of key categories of AI-enabled assessment technologies, illustrated through representative tools such as adaptive learning platforms, automated grading systems, intelligent tutoring systems, plagiarism-detection tools, learning analytics platforms, learning management systems and secure digital assessment environments.

The presentation concludes by addressing the institutional policies, professional development, transparency mechanisms and forms of human oversight required for responsible adoption. It invites participants to reflect on how higher education can redesign assessment while preserving academic integrity, teacher–student relationships and trust in qualifications in an environment where human and artificial intelligence increasingly interact.

BIOGRAPHY

Pedro Isaías is an associate professor with Habilitation at Universidade Aberta (Portuguese Open University) in Lisbon, Portugal. Previously, Pedro was an associate professor at the Information Systems & Technology Management School of The University of New South Wales (UNSW – Sydney), Australia, an associate professor at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and an invited professor at ISEG-University of Lisbon, Portugal. At Universidade Aberta, he is currently responsible for several courses in the Information Systems areas and also a member of the coordination team of the postgraduation in Digital Innovation and Business Analytics. At Universidade Aberta, Pedro was director of the master degree program in Management / MBA and also director of the master degree program in Electronic Commerce and Internet for 10 years. He is co-founder and president of IADIS – International Association for Development of the Information Society, a scientific non-profit association. Author of several books, book chapters, papers and research reports, all in the information systems area, he has headed several conferences and workshops within the mentioned area. He has also been responsible for the scientific coordination of several EU funded research projects and has had participation as a principal investigator in various research projects. Currently he conducts research activity related to MIS in general, and more specifically Learning Technologies, Data Analytics, Business Intelligence, Digital Transformation, e-Business and WWW related areas. Pedro has more than 198 publications: 34 journal papers, 76 conference papers, 11 authored books, 33 edited books, 24 book chapters, and 21 journal special issues. Pedro has delivered 35 keynote/invited talks & workshop panels and has received over 4.793 citations, resulting in an h-index of 35 (Google Scholar, February 2026).
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=psVP0UAAAAAJ&hl=en&inst=7289110936595769722
Orcid: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1194-2127
Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=6507485854