The Politics of Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Higher Education: Benefits < > Risks

Abstract

The intersection of education, politics and technology is increasingly becoming urgent in analysing the development of educational systems. As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is reshaping our lives, it is changing the façades of many fields, including higher education. Despite the global appellative propaganda for AI and the quite charming, fascinating, and tempting discourse on the necessity of change, development and updating education to meet a rapidly changing job market, inter alia, the uncontrolled use of AI can represent real threats to educational systems. This paper investigates some of the benefits and risks of integrating AI into higher education and their prospective implications for students' skills and their employability, teachers and the industry. It is not my intention, by any means, to reject or attack AI technology in itself, but it is an attempt to carefully and rationally think, analyse, compare and evaluate that integration. Since politics and technology are vital for education, the study employs a multi-disciplinary theoretical perspective. It is a qualitative study based on observation, analysis, comparison and interpretation. The study unveils serious risks of the global unjustifiable pressure to integrate AI into higher education for their implications for students, teachers and the industry. Benefits are found to be disproportional to the risks and the whole issue should be reconsidered before integration.