In an AI World, ICMS Academic Says Human Skills Matter More Than Ever

As artificial intelligence transforms how students access knowledge, ICMS Senior Program Manager (Tourism and Hospitality) Dr Johnnel Smith says higher education has an increasingly important role to play in developing something technology cannot provide: human capability. 

Artificial intelligence can generate an answer in seconds. But can a graduate question that answer, make a judgement call, communicate under pressure, navigate uncertainty or come up with an idea nobody prompted them to produce? 

These were among the questions Dr Smith explored during her presentation at the recent ICMS Symposium 2026. 

In AI Unplugged: The Renaissance of Analogue Education and Reclaiming Human Capabilities in an AI-Saturated World, Smith explored why the rapid rise of artificial intelligence may actually make distinctly human capabilities more valuable, not less. 

An experienced educator and researcher, Smith brought her academic and industry perspective to a timely question for higher education: as technology becomes more capable, how do we make sure students continue developing their own capabilities? 

“The future challenge of higher education is not only teaching students how to use artificial intelligence but ensuring they do not lose their own.  

“As AI becomes increasingly capable, higher education has an extraordinary opportunity to focus on what it develops best: capable, thoughtful, adaptable, creative and deeply human graduates”.  

“Every technological revolution increases the importance of these qualities that make us uniquely human.” 

AI Can Provide Answers. Students Still Need to Learn How to Think.

AI can expand access to knowledge, personalise learning, provide rapid feedback and support students academically. However, Dr Smith’s presentation also explored the potential risks of relying too heavily on technology to do the cognitive work involved in learning. 

For Smith, this makes capabilities such as critical thinking, judgement, creativity, empathy, communication, resilience, and self-awareness increasingly important. 

“When answers to questions can be generated instantly, the greatest competitive advantage is the ability to think critically about the questions.” (Giannini, 2024) 

“The renaissance of analogue education is not a rejection of technology. It is a strategic response to a world where knowledge is abundant, but human capability is scarce,” Smith says.  

The distinction is important.  

Smith is not arguing that students should turn away from AI.  

Instead, she argues that technological fluency needs to develop alongside the human capabilities graduates will need in their careers. 

“Data from the Australian Association of Graduate Employers to the Senate shows us that employers are less concerned as to whether graduates can use AI but whether they can think without it” (The Australian, 2026; Switzer, 2026). 

“The future belongs to graduates who combine technological fluency with deeply human capabilities,” she says. 

Why Analogue Learning Still Matters

Against this digital backdrop, Smith explored renewed interest in analogue education: learning built around face-to-face interaction, handwriting, reflection, discussion, experiential activities and sustained attention. 

Analogue education does not simply mean putting laptops away. 

Her presentation considered analogue learning through the lenses of metacognition, neuroscience and neuroplasticity, examining how students learn and the role active, reflective and multisensory experiences can play in that process: 

“Analogue education creates conditions where confidence, resilience and professional identity can flourish.” 

“Education reaches its highest purpose when it transforms how learners see themselves and their potential. We change lives when learners discover capabilities they never knew they possessed.” 

“Cognitive neuroscience tells us that true learning leaves a biological trace through a process known as ‘neuroplasticity’ and a deeper understanding of ourselves; this is called ‘Meaning-Making’ in the neurobiology of self-awareness.” 

What Does Analogue Education Actually Look Like?

One of the most practical elements of Smith’s presentation was showing how analogue learning can be applied across different disciplines. 

Marketing students might hand-draw customer journey maps, conduct face-to-face focus groups, or pitch strategies verbally without slides. Business students can debate case studies, create business models on paper, and tackle team problem-solving challenges. 

Accounting students might reconstruct financial statements or work through tax scenarios. 

Fashion students can create physical mood boards and participate in peer critiques, while property students can practice negotiation through role play and undertake development feasibility calculations. 

The purpose is not nostalgia for education before technology. These activities deliberately create opportunities for students to think, communicate, create, collaborate, and make decisions for themselves. 

Authentic Experiences, Interaction and Meaning

Smith brought these ideas together through the AIM Model, an original conceptual framework she built around three interconnected elements: Authentic Experiences, Interaction-Rich Learning, and Meaning-Making. 

Together, these elements provide a way of thinking about learning experiences that go beyond information delivery, encouraging students to engage with what they are learning, interact with others, reflect on their experiences, and make meaning from them. 

The approach also reflects themes explored more broadly at the ICMS Symposium 2026, which centered on Thriving Students at the Centre: Industry-Connected Learning that Builds Belonging, Agency, and Capability. 

Keeping Humans at the Centre of AI at ICMS

Smith’s presentation also sits within a wider conversation at ICMS about how higher education should respond to artificial intelligence. 

Between 2023 and 2025, ICMS developed its Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED) Framework, taking an iterative, evidence-informed approach to the use of generative AI across learning, teaching and assessment.  

Rather than treating AI as something simply to allow or prohibit, the framework is underpinned by a “human-in-the-centre” principle. Under this approach, AI can enhance learning, but decisions involving judgement, ethics, and assessment remain with educators and students.  

The framework also distinguishes between assessments designed to assure student learning and those designed to develop AI capability. Student feedback about confidence in using AI responsibly also contributed to the introduction of a compulsory AI literacy module at ICMS. 

Writing about the development of the framework, ICMS Deputy Vice Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) Professor Heidi Le Sueur said: 

“Perhaps most importantly, the policy review and implementation process must remain grounded in stakeholder experience and feedback to remain relevant, practical, and responsive to real-world challenges.” 

Smith’s presentation approaches the issue from a different direction but arrives at a complementary point: preparing students for an AI-enabled world is not simply about teaching them how to use new technology. It is also about deliberately developing the judgement, creativity, critical thinking, and human capabilities needed to use it well. 

High-Tech, High-Touch and Highly Human

For Smith, the answer is not choosing between artificial intelligence and analogue education. 

“One of the greatest risks of AI is that humans may become less intentional about developing their own intelligence,” she says.  

“When technology does the thinking for us, we risk outsourcing the very capabilities that make us human. Capabilities such as navigating complexity, uncertainty and change.” (Alubthane, 2026) 

Instead, Smith argues that higher education has an opportunity to embrace technological capability while remaining deliberate about developing the qualities that technology cannot replace. 

“We are not choosing between AI and analogue education, rather it is about creating graduates who are high-tech, high-touch and highly human – the ultimate competitive advantage.” 

As technology becomes increasingly capable, the challenge for higher education is not simply preparing graduates to use it. It is ensuring that they continue developing human capabilities to decide when, why, and how to use it. 

• Dr Johnnel Smith is Senior Program Manager (Tourism and Hospitality) at the International College of Management, Sydney (ICMS). Her research interests span tourism and hospitality, artificial intelligence and teaching and learning in higher education. 

Disclaimer 

This article reports on themes and perspectives presented by Dr Johnnel Smith at the ICMS Symposium 2026 in AI Unplugged: The Renaissance of Analogue Education and Reclaiming Human Capabilities in an AI-Saturated World. Statements relating to research findings and neuroscience reflect material presented in the presentation and should be considered in the context of its cited sources. 

References: 

Alubthane, FO. (2026). Amplifier or substitute? A systematic review of generative AI’s impact on higher-order cognitive skills 

Giannini, S. (2024, July 22). Generation AI: Navigating the Opportunities and Risks of Artificial Intelligence in Education. Unesco.Org. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/generation-ai-navigating-opportunities-and-risks-artificial-intelligence-education 

One in three bosses flag issues with new uni graduates. (2026). Theaustralian.com.au; taus. https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/graduates-rely-too-much-on-ai-employers-warn-senate-inquiry/news-story/2b96bf6ea477f8356ee019cb13f6e16a 

Switzer, P. (2026, June 29). AI won’t take your job but it might make you unemployable. Switzer. https://switzer.com.au/ai-wont-take-your-job-but-it-might-make-you-unemployable/