For decades, English proficiency tests have served as the primary gatekeeper to international education, generating billions for testing companies while shutting out brilliant students worldwide. But AI translation technology is poised to shatter this monopoly. With real-time translation achieving near-human accuracy and schools beginning to pilot multilingual instruction, the question isn't whether English requirements will become obsolete, but how quickly universities will adapt. The colonial-era language hierarchy that privileges English above all else faces its greatest challenge yet: technology that makes any language equally accessible. Universities clinging to English-only requirements risk being left behind as students migrate to institutions that value multilingual competence and embrace AI-mediated learning.

The rise of AI makes it clear: the most valuable skills are not technical, but human. Often mislabeled as “soft,” skills like empathy, adaptability, and collaboration are foundational, critical, and human skills required for learning and employability. Higher education must use a common language, reclaim their value, embed them across the curriculum, and ensure students graduate ready to lead in a world AI cannot fully replicate.

From ChatGPT and Google Lens to Evernote and iTranslate, here’s what lives in my digital carry-on. These AI tools help me plan, translate, take notes, and work on the move so the logistics quiet down and I can be present with students and place.