'Big Brother' and AI fears over lecture filming

A university policy making it compulsory to film lectures has raised concerns about the footage being misused or used to train artificial intelligence (AI), unions said.

The University of Lincoln said it was "standard practice" for lectures to be filmed, and confirmed that was a change from it being "best practice" in the previous academic year.

The university said the policy would ensure "all students have access to the teaching materials and support they need to succeed".

However, Lincoln and Districts Trades Council said the policy was like a "big brother state", while the University and College Union said its members were concerned the content could be repurposed by AI without consent.

Branch chair Dr Katie Hunt said the union was concerned about lecturers being "filmed against their will".

"The university policy does allow for lecture recordings to be used as part of investigations into complaints about staff misconduct.

"So they become, instead of teaching tools, tools for surveillance of us as workers," she said.

Bradley Wall, the chair of Lincoln and District Trades Council, echoed the concerns, and said the policy was akin to a "big brother state constantly following you around, recording you so they can point out when you've done something bad".

"I don't think there's a single person out there that would be arguing this is a policy they would be happy with," he said.

Hunt said the previous policy, where staff could opt out of recording lectures, had "worked well" and said it should remain "voluntary".

"Colleagues are worried about AI, about our voice, our comments, our images being repurposed without our consent, perhaps used to train AI or being distorted," she said.

"Some of us are concerned about safety. Some of our migrant colleagues who come from more authoritarian regimes are concerned about comments that they make in an unguarded, spontaneous way, getting out and attracting negative consequences."

A University of Lincoln spokesperson said it was commited to an "inclusive and high quality learning experience" for students.

They said "choosing not to record teaching sessions risks creating inequalities" in students' access to learning resources and the policy allows "for exceptions and reasonable adjustments" where recording is not appropriate.

"We remain committed to constructive engagement with our recognised trade unions as we implement the policy," the spokesperson added.

"Our priority remains ensuring that all students have access to the teaching materials and support they need to succeed."

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