Starts at AIRC

Over the last couple of years, we have seen the emergence of AI’s use in international student recruitment and how it is reshaping the industry. There seems to be a mix of early, enthusiastic adopters, and those who just hope it will go away. But it isn’t going away. Our latest student survey found that almost one-third (30%) of respondents would use AI to write their applications, with 40% saying maybe, but they were unsure of whether it was ‘allowed’. We owe it to the students we serve, to incorporate AI into our ways of working for better service in recruitment, make the process transparent so they are clear on terms of use, and offer guidance and AI’s best practices to ensure their readiness for the global economy. And we must do it in a safe, compliant way. Some institutions and recruitment agencies are also benefitting from AI’s use, from optimising processes to reduce peak workload administration to offering on-demand information to students across different time zones with chatbots. Those who have already integrated AI are a step ahead. Its advantages continue to grow as more stringent visa checks and compliance pressures increase already stretched workloads processing student applications to the US. Historically, the admissions process has been highly time-consuming and prone to human error. But with the use of AI, one can harness the data and predictive power to make it all the more efficient. A competitive advantage, recruiting the best students AI’s ability to screen and prioritise high-quality applications ultimately means students can make their destination decisions more quickly. This speed is a competitive advantage; students are more likely to act on an offer rather than wait for others. This ensures the best students are engaged early, improving the quality of your applicant pool. Edvoy’s Genie is an AI course matching tool. It analyses 200+ data points to assess the likelihood of a student’s application success. The data points include academic qualifications, budget, and entry requirements. By pre-qualifying the student much before the application is submitted, AI helps save time for universities, which would otherwise be wasted on ineligible applicants. AI in compliance, navigating stringent visa checks Any change to visa requirements puts more pressure on compliance procedures. AI can conduct thorough pre-vetting processes to catch any inconsistencies, which is a major boost to application integrity. It can also be used to assess mock interviews for credibility checks, ensuring the student’s verbal communication aligns with their written application. AI can also help as a final compliance check, where it analyses student profiles and flags unexplained study gaps or complex financial histories for mandatory human intervention before the issuance of the I-20 form. This helps universities maintain their reputation and high visa success rates. With this strategic handholding by AI, recruitment partners and universities can focus on more important tasks, such as personalised student guidance and relationship-building. The ethical responsibility of AI But with every powerful tool comes ethical responsibility. At Edvoy, we firmly believe that while AI helps boost efficiency and processes, its predictive nature comes with the potential bias of what a successful applicant is. Leaving it unchecked could result in unfairness. Edvoy uses a number of tools to actively safeguard us against existing biases. For example, the data supplied to our systems, such as Genie, covers diverse demographic groups to ensure balanced outcomes. Additionally, it’s built with XAI or Explainable AI, which helps humans understand the rationale behind the AI results (and in our case, Genie’s recommendations), making it easy for us to monitor and improve the system. AI isn’t going anywhere; it has the ability to greatly enhance our ways of working, and can make education more accessible across the globe. We must work together to inform students of best practices and ensure that transparency and ethical accountability remain at the heart of every use.