Prof Shan Simmonds attended the Think Tank on GenAI and the Question of Knowledge at the University of Johannesburg on 26 and 27 October 2026. The event was hosted by the DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Teaching and Learning (PSET). Facilitated by Prof Shireen Motala (University of Johannesburg) and Prof Sioux McKenna (Rhodes University), the programme speakers were: Caroline Ncube (UCT), Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni (University of Calgary, Canada), Anye-Nkwenti Nyamnjoh (UCT), Emma Ruttkamp-Bloem (UP), Scott Timcke (UJ) and Jantina de Vries (UCT). Together researchers and leaders from the South African higher education sector (CHE, DHET, USAF, Chancellors, Deans and Directors) grappled with interconnected dimensions on GenAI and the question of knowledge including: higher education’s common good mandate, epistemological differentiation across disciplines, truth and the erosion of epistemic authority as well as algorithmic bias and the Global South.