Macquarie University in Australia has replaced in-person classes in two mandatory psychology subjects with an AI chatbot called "Virtual Peer", alongside online quizzes and optional tutorials, as part of a broader trend of universities expanding AI's role in teaching. The university says the AI activities merely "supplement" core online learning and are not compulsory, with assessment still based on separate research tasks and exams, but critics argue the shift reflects a wider pattern that could lead to staff cuts and erode meaningful engagement between students and teachers.

The two units, which cost students $2,174 each in 2026, previously offered in-person classes and will do so again only in alternate semesters from 2027. Paid tutors still run optional weekly Zoom sessions, though at a ratio of roughly one class per 70 students, and attendance is reportedly patchy outside assessment periods. Virtual Peer answered nearly 80,000 questions in all of 2025 but almost matched that total in just the first half of 2026, and Macquarie says surveys show strong staff and student support, even as one anonymous student described feeling "short-changed" and likened the exercise to "teaching this robot how to take jobs away from my teachers." Macquarie joins Melbourne and Sydney universities in systematically embedding AI into teaching, while academics such as Central Queensland University's Meena Jha warn that replacing human contact risks harming student engagement.