9. Artificial intelligence for good? Challenges and possibilities of AI in higher education from a data justice perspective

Abstract

Artificial intelligence has long been gaining traction in higher education (HE), with accelerated growth in uptake and spread since the COVID-19 pandemic, including the 2023 rise of generative AI. While this piece acknowledges the groundbreaking changes currently wrought by generative AI technologies in HE, its focus on overarching principles and frameworks rather than with capturing the current rapidly-changing state of the tech industry. The chapter asks: does AI bring to HE the promised/assumed benefits to student support and learning or is it yet another symptom of HE’s massification, further complicated by justice and equity issues? Drawing on data justice and ethics of care scholarship, the chapter seeks to answer: (a) how can AI be used in HE for good, (b) how can this rapidly growing industry be regulated, and (c) what would a conceptual framework for data justice and fair usage of AI in HE look like?