SENATOR Joel Villanueva has called on state universities and colleges (SUCs) to allocate funding for faculty training in artificial intelligence (AI), saying students are increasingly outpacing their professors in using generative AI tools.

Speaking at the 2026 Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges (PASUC) Annual Convention at the SMX Convention Center, Villanueva said the rapid advancement of AI has made continuous faculty upskilling more urgent than ever.

“Sometimes, students are already ahead of their teachers, especially in generative AI,” Villanueva told SUC presidents and officials.

The chairperson of the Senate Committee on Higher, Technical and Vocational Education stressed that the gap is not due to a lack of competence among educators but to the unprecedented pace of technological change.

“Hindi po dahil kulang sa skill ang ating mga guro, kundi dahil napakabilis talagang umusad ng teknolohiya,” he said, adding that continuous training and upskilling of academic staff remain among the country’s policy gaps in adapting to artificial intelligence.

“I hope we can work together to find ways to fund AI training for our SUC faculty,” Villanueva said.

The senator framed the appeal within the broader challenge of preparing graduates for a future labor market that has yet to fully emerge.

Citing author Simon Sinek’s concept of the “infinite mindset,” Villanueva pointed to Nokia and Kodak as examples of industry leaders that failed to adapt to disruptive innovations—Nokia to smartphones and Kodak to digital photography, despite inventing the technology.

“Are we preparing our students for jobs that do not yet exist, technologies that have not yet been invented, and problems that have not yet emerged?” he asked.

Villanueva also recalled management theorist Peter Drucker’s 1997 prediction that university campuses would become “relics” within 30 years. With that timeline nearing its end in 2027, he said the more important question is no longer whether universities survived, but whether they have remained relevant.

Referring to today’s world as VUCA—volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous—Villanueva said this was the rationale behind the ₱2-million allocation for a Futures Thinking Research Program for selected SUCs under the 2026 national budget, which he and Senator Pia Cayetano pushed for last year.

The funding formed part of the record ₱1.3-trillion education budget approved by Congress, equivalent to 4.4 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

“In such a world, the future will not wait for us,” Villanueva said. “Our state universities and colleges must anticipate change, shape it, and lead it.”