Óbuda University intends to make artificial intelligence an integrated part of teaching, research and administration rather than a separate tool. The institution established an AI Campus as the strategic framework for institutional AI adoption and launched a GenAI Platform to offer a controlled, shared interface for generative AI tools to students, educators, researchers and staff.
A three‑pillar transformation
Rector Levente Kovács describes the university’s shift as built on three interdependent pillars. The first is awareness: Kovács estimates technology itself accounts for roughly 10% of a successful transition, development and regulation about 20%, and the decisive 70% is the human factor. Part of this pillar is a mandatory AI foundation course for every student to teach basics, use cases and risks.
The second pillar is an AI‑first approach: the aim is for community members to actively use AI in daily work and learning, even if that requires experimentation and makes room for mistakes. Achieving this, the rector says, will require substantial internal communication, Q&A sessions and showcasing good examples.
The third pillar is a developer base that produces targeted applications for sectors such as banking, healthcare, defence and engineering.
Changes to teaching and assessment
AI’s role in education will extend beyond student tools: AI‑assisted materials and presentations can become more structured and engaging, for example through avatars or digital learning resources. In this model instructors retain professional oversight, verify content and decide what knowledge is delivered to students.
Assessment methods are likely to change significantly. Kovács argues that as generative tools spread, written assignments alone will be less reliable indicators of student learning. Consequently, written tests may increasingly take place on digital platforms under strict time limits, since time constraints can reduce opportunities for misuse of models. The university is already running pilot programmes where AI contributes to grading digital exams, providing scores and textual feedback.
At the same time the role of oral examinations may grow, because they allow instructors to directly verify whether a student truly understands and can explain outcomes produced with AI assistance. According to the rector, grades should increasingly measure understanding, verification and professional argumentation rather than only the ability to produce text.
Research, administration and workflow gains
AI can speed up research by accelerating literature reviews, data analysis and source comparison. Kovács emphasized, however, that responsibility for verification remains with researchers: AI outputs must be critically assessed, since poor question design can lead to wrong answers that may cost more than independent work.
Last year Óbuda University started a strategic collaboration with HUN‑REN to develop an AI‑supported research framework aimed at accelerating university research processes.
On the administrative side, Kovács noted that repetitive student inquiries and routine tasks may consume a large portion of administrators’ time—up to 90 percent in some cases. Chatbots and automated systems can handle parts of these workflows, freeing human staff to focus on complex, individual cases that require judgement.
Equality of access and data protection
Access to AI has become an equity issue: advanced models are often paid services, and access to tools can affect academic performance. To mitigate this, Óbuda University offers a GenAI Platform and regulated access so students, faculty and researchers have a common baseline, while acknowledging the institution cannot fully equalize differences between individual paid subscriptions.
Data security is also central. The university must protect its infrastructure, networks and data, especially when student, research or institutional information is processed with AI systems. The mandatory AI foundational courses will cover which data may be used safely and what should not be uploaded to uncontrolled external services.
Rector’s perspective and outlook
Kovács expresses a techno‑optimistic view: AI’s development is rapid and sometimes unpredictable, but human natural intelligence will remain superior, and society will regulate the technology according to its ethical norms within transparent frameworks. Over time, he suggests, AI use may become a basic competency similar to driving a car: not everyone will be a developer, but everyone should understand basic rules, risks and operational logic.
The publication of this story was supported by Óbuda University.
