In this month’s University Design column, David Staley explores the provocative idea of The Agentic Student. With AI agents increasingly embedded in our daily lives, what happens when students begin sending them to class—not just to take notes, but to participate, ask questions, and even take exams?

Staley examines the possibilities and challenges of this emerging “representative education,” where human learners are joined (or even replaced) by their AI counterparts. What does this mean for learning, teaching, and the future design of higher education?

Listen as David reads his essay aloud and invites us to imagine what comes next.