Information is available to everyone, with knowledge seemingly just a click away. Machines have become almost superhuman, capable of writing texts, analysing data, programming, translating and proposing solutions to problems in a matter of seconds. The same tasks could take a person days, sometimes even months or years.

Yet the dramatically increased availability of facts and opinions does not automatically lead to greater knowledge or deeper understanding. Our ability to ask the right questions – while remaining critical and self-critical – is becoming increasingly valuable.

What matters is our ability to question, to see connections and to distinguish what is important from what is not. And our willingness to ask whose interests a particular solution serves.

More than ever before, the role of a university is to teach critical thinking and how to give meaning to knowledge. To teach us to question, discuss and experiment. To try again after making mistakes. To relearn. And ultimately, to create something that did not exist before – new knowledge. No search engine or language model can replace that. At least not yet.

Now, a thought addressed primarily to students – and, of course, to their lecturers as well.

In a turbulent world, we increasingly talk about the need to learn faster. But while technology can accelerate – and, as we can see, is accelerating – at an explosive pace, people cannot simply download new knowledge like a software update. Learning and the development of new knowledge take time.

New knowledge must be connected in our minds with what we already know and given meaning. More than that: we need to try things out and receive feedback. Only then does information become knowledge, and knowledge in turn becomes the ability to understand, make decisions and create something new ourselves.

At university, too, we do not need to speed everything up. Perhaps some things should instead be slowed down.

Strong foundational knowledge does not belong to yesterday’s world. To question what artificial intelligence offers us, we need a foundation on which to build our doubts. To ask a good question, we need to know what matters. To distinguish a plausible answer from a correct one, we need to understand. And to create new knowledge, we need a foundation from which to move forward.

One of the defining words of our time is uncertainty. But a university can provide a toolkit that, based on what we know today, can help us cope even in an age of machine intelligence. We offer strong foundational knowledge and a scientific mindset. The ability to solve problems together with others. The courage to rely on our own capacity to think.

And perhaps the most important understanding of all: we must never forget that AI is a what. A human being is a who. This difference is not semantic; it is fundamental.

For decades, people interested in technology have come to Tallinn University of Technology to study technologies. Lecturers have been the ones holding up a mirror of technology for their students. Now the university’s task is to hold up a mirror of humanity to technology.

Alongside their role as providers of knowledge, lecturers are becoming increasingly valuable as companions on the journey – people who help students think and make sense of things, who notice mistakes as well as opportunities. People who help us view technological possibilities through the lens of humanity and responsibility. After all, technology must serve people, not people technology.

I know that all of this also places additional responsibilities on university employees. That is why I urge all of you to approach artificial intelligence in a way that ensures we do not run after it like a galloping horse, but instead try to take the reins ourselves.

Three quarters of us are already enthusiastic users of ChatGPT, and many probably use their own tools as well. I encourage the rest of you to give it a try too – perhaps this is precisely where an interesting professional and intellectual opportunity lies. And we certainly cannot afford to fall behind our students, whose use of AI has developed rapidly.

I would also urge everyone to continue placing importance on the principles of good practice in learning and teaching. We are already seeing the rewarding results of this initiative: the number of graduates has increased, as has satisfaction with studies. I believe this is encouraging for all of us as we begin the new academic year.

One more thought that reflects the times in which we live.

Beyond technological competitiveness and economic growth, an even more important goal for the university is to keep Estonia a country for people, even in the age of artificial intelligence. A country where technology does not make people feel redundant.

No, I am not calling on us to swim against the current – eventually, that would consume all our strength. But even when swimming with the current, we must keep our heads above water so that we can see where we are going, decide whether that is where we want to end up and, if necessary, change direction. We must remain wise decision-makers – that is the purpose of education and of the university.

May we all have enough curiosity and backbone to become – and remain – thinking human beings.

I wish you all a successful new academic year!

And a successful new year of collaboration!

Mente et Manu!