The transformative impact of artificial intelligence on higher education: A critical reflection on current trends and futures directions
Jean‐Claude Ruano‐Borbalan
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) seems to offer considerable potential in higher education by offering personalized learning experiences and fostering deeper student engagement. However, whether the AI’s impact reflects historical patterns of technology integration in education, which may be modest and determined by the multiple education or research “functions”, or whether the techno-scientific breakthrough signifies a deeper transformation in higher education. This article explores the complexities of AI in education, separating promotional narratives from reality. It examines the role of AI in reshaping knowledge and learning, while warning against the loss of critical approaches. AI’s potential to transform education remains largely unrealized. Current applications reinforce existing inequalities and fail to deliver complete personalization. However, the picture is complicated, as AI’s impact on creative teaching, foreign language learning, and research-intensive disciplines is notable. AI represents a significant step towards blurring the boundaries between formal and informal education, and the wide “distribution” of both learning and knowledge (in symbiosis with other digital technologies). AI’s influence is growing, but its full potential in education has yet to be realized, and there’s no guarantee that it will be realized to the extent of techno prophetic hopes.