ChatGPT’s surprise debut as college lecturer in May 2025 left 12 students at a U.S. university demanding full tuition refunds and questioning the fate of human professors. The switch from familiar faculty to a chatbot at their own desks prompted worries of robot-signed diplomas.

Robotic lectures delivered by ChatGPT, not their trusted professor, left students feeling shortchanged—one called it “bizarrely impersonal.” With AI college courses trending, higher education’s future now seems just a prompt away, with graduation photos possibly featuring holograms.