Australian University Replaces In-Person Classes With AI Chatbot

Macquarie University has eliminated in-person instruction in two mandatory psychology courses, substituting an AI chatbot called "Virtual Peer" for traditional classroom teaching. The move represents one of the most significant replacements of human instruction with artificial intelligence at an Australian university to date.

The affected courses—one introductory and one final-year psychology unit—previously offered face-to-face classes during the first semester of 2026. Now students engage with AI-guided scenario exercises, online readings, quizzes and videos. While optional Zoom sessions with human tutors remain available, the ratio stands at approximately one session for every 70 students across the 1,100 total enrollees in both courses.

Why it matters

This shift illustrates how universities are deploying AI not just as a supplementary tool but as a core replacement for human instruction—even as tuition costs rise above $50,000 for a three-year degree. The approach tests whether institutions can maintain educational quality while reducing direct faculty contact, a question with implications for both student outcomes and academic employment across the sector.

Student and faculty response

One student who was required to take the online format described feeling "short-changed" by the change. "Instead of a group discussion or a tutor teaching you, it's a class activity done with a robot," the student told The Guardian, which first reported these details. "I feel like I'm teaching this robot how to take jobs away from my teachers."

Each psychology subject costs Australian students $2,174 under commonwealth-supported enrollment in 2026.

Macquarie stated that Virtual Peer was developed with educators and that professors upload and verify the information the system uses, potentially reducing the risk of AI "hallucination." The university can monitor student conversations with the tool and said surveys showed staff and students found it valuable. Virtual Peer answered nearly 80,000 questions in 2025 and a similar volume in just the first half of 2026, primarily administrative inquiries.

Broader sector trends

The University of Sydney has positioned itself as a leader in educational AI, with hundreds of academics using its "Cogniti" platform for chatbots and exercises. A discussion paper released in late August envisions futures with personalized AI teaching and reduced staff-student contact hours, though a spokesperson insisted this "isn't a cost-saving measure in any way."

Faculty at Sydney plan to strike over AI protections and workload concerns. Peter Chen, president of the university's national tertiary education union branch, said some staff fear job loss while others worry about losing "everything that makes the job worth doing."

Dr. Alison Barnes, national president of the NTEU and a Macquarie academic, warned that "simply papering over those cracks with piecemeal AI rollouts could actually create even more damaging issues" amid existing workload pressures.

Meena Jha, an associate professor at Central Queensland University who researches AI in higher education, said she had not previously encountered universities simultaneously cutting in-person teaching while introducing AI chatbots. "Students require that human touch … [and] engagement will be a very big issue if we replace everything with virtual tutors," Jha said.

Macquarie stated that in-person classes would return in 2027 in alternate semesters, allowing students to choose their preferred format.

These details were first reported by The Guardian.